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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 1 



1 Ci)ap. BK3 

I No. • U G 

| UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



' ' ' pie lAinEiT wsvoimx i i 



L ■ Cr-anach cUl- 




MARTIN LUTHER 



' c U?77l tz>n ( 'v/r// /,,// Ztc&t 






DRAWN FROM LIFE. 



THE 

PROTESTANT REFORMATION 

OF THE 

SIXTEENTH CENTURY, 

BRIEFLY CELEBRATED J 

AS A MOTIVE TO NATIONAL GRATITUDE: 

INCLUDING 

gezmmUt gtvittute* 

ON 

THE NATIONAL CHURCH. 



\. E. DE 



BY C. E. BE COETLOGON, A. M. 

RECTOR OF GODSTONE, SURREY. 



^.. \ 



«* All, which I have written on this great subject, is in the Spirit of Mercy, 
Humanity, and true Christianity; consistent with the principles of an English 
Protestant, and that rational and guarded love to my Country, which I am 
bound, according to my Ability, to warn, to vindicate, and to defend.'* 



JLottitotu 

PRINTED FOR E. COX AND SON, ST. THOMAS'S STREET, 
BOROUGH ; 

and sold by d. cox, high street, southwark; seeley, fleet street; 
hatchard, piccadilly; williams, stationers' court; conder, st. 
Paul's churchyard; sherwood and co. paternoster row; simpkin 
4nd % marshall, stationers' court j and ogle, holborn. 

1818. 



8ARNARD AND FARLEY. 

SUtinntr-dtrert , l,»*dait 






DEDICATION. 

TO 

THE NOBILITY, GENTRY, 

AND 

COMMONALTY, 

OP 

THE BRITISH EMPIRE, 

WHO VENERATE THE 

^rotmant UtfotmMton f 

AND THE 

PROTESTANT CONSTITUTION, 

THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE INSCRIBED 

WITH HUMILITY, DEFERENCE, 

AND RESPECT, 

BY THE AUTHOR. 



PRELIMINARY NOTICES. 



Deprived, as I now am, by Age and 
Infirmities, of the Power, not of the Will, 
to discharge those parochial Duties, to 
which I had ever been accustomed for 
nearly half a century — yet shocked at the 
idea of suffering any talent, I may possess, 
to rust in torpid inactivity — the Attempt I 
now make, to render myself of some little 
value to the Community, will, I hope, be 
favoured with a benevolent Candour* No- 
thing, but painful necessity, shall compel 
me to repose in the Castle of indolence. 
Cold and feeble indeed, as the Winter of 
our days usually is, I feel myself animated 
at the present crisis, by a Topic, which I 



VI 

rejoice to see reviving among us ; and, the 
more so, as it has, for a considerable extent 
of time, seemed buried in utter oblivion. 
The recollection of The Protestant Refor- 
mation has certainly kindled an unexpected 
spark of warmth in my languid Frame, 
which, I flatter myself, may be of some 
public Utility. Under this impulse only 
do I either write or solicit attention. 

Some of us, who are ardently attached 
to our monarchical Form of government, 
have celebrated with much political glow 
The Restoration, which, after a distracting 
Interregnum, occurred in our historic an- 
nals : others, and with still greater glow, 
that glorious Revolution, from which we 
have derived superior advantages, both 
civil and religious : be it mine, to raise my 
almost expiring voice on a theme of im- 
mortal excellence and worth : an Event, in 
which the God of heaven was pleased to 
smile on this Nation, in a manner, the re- 



Vll 



membrance of which ought to inspire us 
with Gratitude and Praise surpassing all 
eloquence of expression. 

Unwilling to lose so favourable an op- 
portunity of offering a few remarks on our 
national Church, as reformed from all the 
errors and heresies of the Papal abomina- 
tion, I have availed myself of an occasion, 
so appropriate and inviting, to submit my 
views of her Creed, Devotions, and Institutes, 
without any reserve, to general inspection. 
In this delicate Department, I throw no 
gauntlet ; I hurl no defiance ; I challenge 
no war : I have endeavoured only to 
obviate the charge of unjustifiable Prepos- 
sessions — of which, as a Minister of the 
Establishment I might be suspected — and, 
to guard against every appearance of pro- 
moting a Spirit of controversy ; which I 
most seriously protest : nor am I aware of 
any thing, that could provoke me to engage 
in it. I have merely stated my own Senti- 



via 



merits ; which every person is at liberty to 
reject. I regard my Species ; I dictate to 
no Man ; nor would I intentionally offend 
the meanest Individual : much less would 
I dare to assail or infringe the sacred rights 
of private Conscience. If I should be 
thought very strongly to adhere to the 
Communiun to which I belong, it is not 
because I deem myself wiser or better than 
those, who dissent from it; but, this I 
know, that the first and best of Men, that 
have adorned the christian Faith, since the 
apostolic Era, have set me the Example. 

In the present disordered State of things 
■ — in a world so confused and distracted — 
I humbly conceive, that our Judgment 
should be formed, not with refined nicety 
or with the severity of criticism, but, upon 
a grand and liberal Scale. For, if we are 
determined to scrutinize every object and 
subject, which presents itself, with a mi- 
croscopic Eye, we must wear out our mo- 



IX 

mentary existence in mental scrupulousness 
and perpetual torture. 

In the description I have given of Po- 
pery, or the Church of Rome, I certainly 
have not studied the softest, smoothest 
terms, that might have been selected ; and 
why not? Because, I have not forgotten 
what Rhetoricians told me in early life ; 
that the Style should be adapted, as much 
as may be, to the Subject. What could you 
think of an Artist, who should paint " The 
Mother of abominations" with the enchant- 
ing features of an Angel ? or, of a Preacher, 
who should pour forth the thunders of the 
divine Law, in the same strains as he would 
proclaim the glad tidings of the Gospel? 
There is a discriminative character in Lan- 
guage, as well as in Sentiment. Christian 
Charity itself would not suffer me to 
speak, in this instance, otherwise than I 
have done: for, I am really anxious it 
should be understood, that, " there is such a 

b 



connexion between idolatrous Superstition 
and Atheism, and their natural Allies, 
Cruelty and Tyranny, that the most intel- 
ligent and experienced Statesmen and 
Moralists have declared it to be indissolu- 
ble/' If, however, I should involuntarily 
have fallen into any mistake, or have in- 
cautiously let slip an unwarrantable phrase, 
most readily do I retract it. The most 
callous Reviewer may be supposed to have 
feeling enough to shew some tenderness 
to an Author, whose days are now dwindled 
to the shortest span. 

After all — I am not one of those, who 
dream that " real Christianity depends on 
any human Institutions. It never did : it 
uev^r will. It stands upon its own foot. 
Whether it be the Religion of the multi- 
tude, and national or not national, or what- 
ever be the forms of it in national Esta- 
blishments, it is one and the same in itself- — 
firm and unalterable — and will undoubted- 



ly remain so to the end of the World — whe- 
ther owned or not owned by any public 
Establishment : for, though assaulted from 
every point of the Compass, " the Gates of 
Hell shall never prevail against it." 

Should the Protestant Reader condescend 
to examine these Leaves with a calm and 
impartial Mind, he will, I trust, be con- 
vinced, that he must be a most ungrateful 
Being, if he be not deeply sensible of the 
peculiar Privileges, with which this Country 
is eminently favoured. That there are 
some dark and gloomy shades in our poli- 
tical and ecclesiastical Region, it must be 
confessed : but, while we bear the Ills, for 
which no human Wisdom can devise an 
adequate Remedy, with moral fortitude, let 
us never lose sight of the unequalled 

Blessings we enjoy. 



THE 



PROTESTANT REFORMATION 

OF 

nt gsixtmxtb emtttrg 

BRIEFLY CELEBRATED, 

&c. &c. 



Rev. xiv. 6, 7. 

" And I saw another Angel fly in the midst of 
Heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to 
preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and 
to every nation, and kindred, and tongue and 
people ; 

" Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give 
glory to Him." 

vJF all the vices, that have ever disgraced and 
deformed the human nature, there is scarce an- 
other that has been more universally protested, 
or exhibited to greater execration, than that of 
Ingratitude. In this instance, the most ancient 
Sages, Philosophers, and Moralists, are in per- 

B 



feet harmony with Prophets and Apostles. 
Much as they may have laboured to expose 
every deviation from the line of Rectitude, they 
have invariably considered this as, the foulest 
blot in the character of Man — and have repre- 
sented the person, who can be allowedly guilty 
of it, as capable of any infamy. Ingratum si 
dixeris, omnia dixeris : " call a man, say they, 
ungrateful, and you call him every thing that is 
vile," 

If such be the moral turpitude of this obliqui- 
ty — which indeed is equally a Vice of the Mind 
and of the Heart, and has no passion to plead 
in its excuse — when it is exercised towards 
Creatures like ourselves, what and how inex- 
pressible must be its aggravated baseness, when 
exercised towards GOD ! towards Him, " in 
whom we live, and move, and have our very 
existence — who giveth to all, life, and breath, 
and all things f the beneficent Author of every 
good we possess, enjoy, or can expect ! And 
yet, as if there were an innate Propensity to 
this enormous Evil — as if it were interwoven 
in our Frame — what is more common ? For, 
though no Truth is more readily admitted, in 
speculation, than that God is a Being of un- 
bounded Goodness, and, that our obligations to 
him defy all adequate expression, where are the 



3 

people, who adopt this undeniable truth as a 
practical Principle? ^here are the people, who 
are continually celebrating the name and praise 
of that God, from whom all blessings flow, in 
any measure as Reason, Justice, and Religion 
demand ? Where are the people, in whose 
history we may not trace, without any critical 
inspection, the depravities of that Israel, whose 
records are inserted for our instruction and 
warning in the Oracles of inspiration ? Amidst 
all the unexampled and even miraculous Mercies, 
by which they were distinguished by their al- 
mighty Deliverer from bondage and misery, 
how were their Prophets commissioned to ad- 
dress them ? You shall hear, in the language of 
Moses and Isaiah. 

When the former was sent to them as the 
Messenger of the most high God, he was di- 
rected to say to them, " Do ye thus requite 
the Lord, O foolish people and unwise ? Is not 
he thy father that hath bought thee ? hath he 
not made thee and established thee ? Remember 
the days of old, the years of many generations : 
ask thy Father, and he will shew thee ; thy 
elders, and they will tell thee. When the most 
High divided to the nations their inheritance, 
he set the bounds of the people according to 

b 2 



the number of the children of Israel. He found 
him in a desert land and in the waste howling 
wilderness ; he led him about ; he instructed 
him ; he kept him as the apple of his eye. As 
an Eagle stirreth up her nest — fluttereth over 
her young — spreadeth abroad her wings — taketh 
them, beareth them on her wings — so the 
Lord alone did lead him, and there was no 
strange God with him/ 5 How beautifully de- 
scriptive and tender is all this imagery! But, 
" Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked : then he 
forsook God that made him, and lightly esteemed 
the Rock of his salvation !" 

When the prophet Isaiah was sent with a 
similar commission, what was the style he was 
charged to make use of, upon the authority of 
that divine Object whom he personated ? It was 
this — " The ox knoweth his owner, and the 
ass his Master's crib ; but Israel doth not know, 
my people doth not consider ! Ah, sinful nation, 
a people laden with iniquity ; children that are 
corrupters ; they have forsaken the Lord, they 
have provoked the holy One of Israel to anger, 
they are gone away backward !" 

Slow and cautious as I would be of saying 
any thing to the dishonour of my own Country, 
which its crimes have not provoked, there is 



something among us, I fear, which bears too 
strong a resemblance to this black Ingratitude, 
and too prominent, not to be obvious to every 
reflecting observer. For, if we really believe, 
with respect to the Godhead, that " of Him, 
and through him, are all things," may I not 
confidently affirm, that he hath not dealt so 
favourably with any nation, over which his 
superintending Providence presides, as he hath 
with us ? 

In proof of this — should proof be required — 
let me call to your serious recollection the sub- 
sequent particulars ; at which I shall merely 
glance ; without going into any minute detail. 
Is there a nation under the whole heavens so 
illustrious for its political Constitution, or Form 
of Government, as our own ? Is it not as un- 
rivalled for its commercial Benefits and its naval 
and military Glory ? Is it not as eminent for its 
literary Distinction? And, which is infinitely 
more to its honour, does it not rise far superior 
to every other in religious advantages? This is 
not said in the despicable vanity of boasting, 
but for the sole purpose of guiding your eye — 
too prone, alas! to fix on second Causes — to 
that bountiful though unseen hand, which 
poureth all these discriminating favours so richly 
upon us. 



6 

Now then, conceding what I have thus briefly 
stated — how has all this been repaid ? or, what 
evidences have we to produce, that our national 
Gratitude has borne any proportion to such 
exalted and exalting Mercies ? Would to God, 
that we did not abound in every species of 
vice and wickedness, which can demonstrate, to 
our shame, that we are too generally living as 
without God in the world ! It is not my Design, 
however, to present you with a distinct and 
frightful Catalogue of our national Sins ; but, 
rather, to shew you, what unquestionable reason 
we have conscientiously to have kept an anni- 
versary Memorial of that great and wonderful 
Event, which, with very insufficient Powers, 
I shall attempt at least to celebrate. An Event, 
which, in much more than common strains of 
Thanksgiving, ought to have been remembered 
in some public manner, through every successive 
year since the light of the glorious Reformation 
of the sixteenth century shone upon our Land. 

I propose then, to lay before you a few of 
those leading Advantages we have derived, for 
three hundred years, from that no less mar- 
vellous than interesting Occurrence. " Whoso 
is wise will observe these things ; and they 
shall understand the Loving-kindness of the 
Lord." 

3 



" And I saw another Angel % in the midst 
of Heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to 
preach unto them that dwell on the earth," and 
to every nation, and kindred and tongue and 
people ; 

" Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and 
give Glory to him/' 

No effort will be made here towards an ela- 
borate or minute interpretation of this Vision ; 
nor do I mean to insert in this place any 
Analysis of its contents : suffice it to remark 
only, as apposite to my principal aim in these 
popular strictures, that, the most approved 
Commentators and Writers on the Apocalypse, 
which I have had an opportunity of consulting, 
uniformly apply it to what has been so often 
and so justly denominated 

" The glorious Reformation.^ 

It may not be amiss, however, to insert the 
authorities of two or three. 

" It is generally admitted/' says one, " that 
the three Angels, introduced in these and the 
following verses, were emblematical Heralds of 
the Reformation from Popery. When, there- 



fore, the extent and prevalence of the power of 
the Beast at its full height, had been predicted 
in the foregoing chapter, the diminution or 
weakening of it is intimated in this. Some 
explain the proclamation of the first Angel, in 
allusion to the ninth, tenth, and eleventh cen- 
turies ; and, no doubt, there were even then 
princes, bishops, and councils, which struggled 
against the worship of images and other gross 
abominations of the Church of Rome: yet, they 
generally concurred in supporting the dominion 
of the Beast, though they were earnest that it 
should be exercised in a different manner as to 
some particulars. We may, therefore, I appre- 
hend, interpret this first Angel, Messenger, or 
Herald, of those, who first publicly erected the 
Standard of reformation, and who contended for 
the everlasting Gospel of Christ, in opposition 
to all the innovations and usurpations of the 
Beast, his Image, and the false Prophet." 

" While the proclamation here made/' says 
another, " that the hour of God's judgment is 
come, is well calculated to turn our thoughts 
to the fate of that Power, whose dominion it 
was declared to Daniel should then begin to be 
consumed, an attentive Reader may discern, on 
perusing this passage, a certain degree of ab- 
ruptness in the introduction of this symbol of 



the Angel. From a choir of those blessed 
Spirits in heaven, who have been redeemed 
through the Gospel, to a fresh publication of it 
on earth, seems a rapid transition ; yet, most 
precisely does this mark the mode in which 
the Reformation began. For, to that Event — 
which was, in fact, a republication of the 
Gospel, Historia evangelii renovati — every cir- 
cumstance of this particular prediction is suited: 
and pointedly to this purpose are the words of 
an ecclesiastical Historian of that period — 
" While the Roman Pontiff slumbered in se- 
curity at the head of the Church, and saw 
nothing through the vast extent of his dominion 
but submission and tranquillity — and, while 
the worthy and pious Professors of genuine 
Christianity almost despaired of seeing that 
Reformation, on which their most ardent desires 
and expectations were bent, an obscure and 
inconsiderable person arose on a sudden — in 
the year fifteen hundred and seventeen — and 
laid the foundation of this long expected 
Change ; by opposing with undaunted resolu- 
tion his single force to the torrent of Papal 
ambition and despotism/' How justly does the 
latter part of this remark correspond with the 
emblem of the text! " Luther," says the 
Historian, " laid the foundation of this long 



10 

expected change ; and this Angel, the Apostle 
tells us, was seen to fly in the midst of Heaven. 
Contrary to the general fate of the Preachers of 
new tenets, it was Luther's lot to proclaim his 
doctrine in the midst of the figurative heavens ; 
before the Emperor and the Princes assembled 
in open Diet. Patronized from the first by 
Princes, the Reformation was introduced into 
the countries, where it took place, by the au- 
thority of the Sovereigns themselves ; not by a 
Party first gained among the subjects, too 
powerful for the Sovereigns to resist. This 
emblematic Messenger of God had too " The 
everlasting Gospel ;" the Gospel, of which it 
is the fundamental doctrine, that there is one 
God and one Mediator between God and Man : 
this he " preached to them that dwell on the 
earth, saying with a loud, a bold and intrepid, 
voice, Fear God, and give glory to him." Lu- 
ther, we are told, when the famous indulgences 
of Leo the tenth were proclaimed in Germany, 
raised his warning voice, and, in ninety-five 
propositions, maintained publicly at Wittem- 
berg, plainly pointed out the Roman Pontiff as 
a partaker in the guilt of those who sold them ; 
since he suffered the people to be seduced by 
such delusions from placing their confidence in 
Christ, the only proper Object of their trust. 



11 

" Again — as the Angel is said to fly in the 
midst of heaven, and call all men to worship 
him that made heaven and earth, so after the 
appearance of a Special Edict of Leo the Tenth, 
in which that Pope commanded his subjects to 
acknowledge his power to deliver men from all 
the punishments due to sin and transgressions 
of every kind — Luther published a German 
translation of the Bible, the different parts of 
which being successively and gradually spread 
abroad among the people, produced, says Mo- 
sheim, a sudden and, almost incredible effect, 
and extirpated root and branch the erroneous 
Principles and superstitious Doctrines of the 
Church of Rome from the minds of a prodigious 
number of persons : with such precision did 
the symbol mark its antitype, by the Angel hav- 
ing the everlasting Gospel in his hand.-" 

In addition to this specimen, numerous other 
authorities might be easily appended, if needful, 
to warrant our application of this passage to an 
Event never to be obliterated from the human 
memory. But, that it may appear in its strongest 
light, it will be expedient that Popery itself be 
dragged forth to view, and exhibited with some 
of its prominent features of hideousness and 
horror. The Man, who does not start at the 
sight of a Monster so infernal, must have 



m 

blinded his Reason — stupified his Conscience — 
and cauterized all the best Feelings of his moral 
nature. Mine, indeed, can be but a faint 
Sketch ; but, I hope, sufficiently terrific and 
repulsive. 

As among the vast multitudes that assume 
the name of Christians, there are comparatively 
but few, who understand any thing of its true 
import — so, among the Millions that call them- 
selves Protestants, there are not many, perhaps, 
who are acquainted with its original meaning. 
A genuine Protestant then is one, who serious- 
ly and upon principle protests against all the 
Errors, Corruptions, Abominations, and Here- 
sies of the Church of Rome : among the chief 
of which, we must reckon those I shall now 
enumerate. Like the ancient Scribes and Pha- 
risees, which our blessed Lord, with all his 
meekness and gentleness, exposed to public 
shame as " a Generation of serpents and vipers/' 
" they make the Word of God of none effect 
by their Traditions" : which, though most of 
them are vain, unprofitable, and contradictory, 
and some of them grossly impious, the Advo- 
cates of the Papal System, contended, in the 
famous Council of Trent, ought to be received 
with like and equal affection of godliness and 
reverence as the holy Scripture itself ! 



13 

In the doctrine of Transubstantiation, the 
members of the Romish Communion profess 
that the very body and blood of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, together with his soul and divinity, are 
truly, really, and substantially in the holy Sa- 
crament of the Lord's Supper ; so that, the 
whole substance of the Bread is turned into the 
Body — and the whole substance of the Wine 
into the Blood — of Christ ! The irrational, 
absurd, and profane consequences of which, it 
would be shocking and scandalous even to re* 
cite. One however must be noticed : for, out 
of this Error arises that of the Mass — which, 
according to them, is one and the same Sacri- 
fice, offered now by the administration of their 
Priests, which Christ offered on the Cross : 
and this, if we can believe their Traditions, is 
not only rightly offered for the sins, punish- 
ments, and other necessities of the living, but 
likewise for those of the dead in Purgatory ! 
and hence their idolatrous adoration of the 
Host. In this manner do they give the lie 
direct to those apostolic Testimonies, which 
assure us, that " Jesus Christ appeared once in 
the end of the world, to put away Sin by the 
sacrifice of Himself; that we are sanctified 
through the offering of Christ once for all; for, 
by one offering he hath perfected for ever them 
that are sanctified. Now where Remission of 



14 

sin is there is no more Offering for sin. These 
are the true sayings of God." 

But, they affirm again, that the Pope is the 
visible Head of the universal Church — to whom 
all Emperors and Sovereigns with their subjects 
are to be passively obedient — upon peril of be- 
ing anathematized or accursed. They give him 
the blasphemous title of his Holiness — and tell 
you that he is possessed of Infallibility ! It is 
worthy to be specially noted here, that, from 
among these said Popes, a considerable number 
might be selected, who were notoriously infa- 
mous for every thing that is worldly, and sen- 
sual, and devilish. And yet, these are the 
Creatures, whose Tiara of three Crowns is to 
remind us of the Power they have in Heaven, 
in Earth, and in Hell ! Would you think it 
possible, that one of their most acute and able 
Defenders should have been so given over to ju- 
dicial blindness and a reprobate mind, as to 
have asserted, that, " If the Pope should err in 
commanding Vices or forbidding Virtues, the 
Church would be bound to believe Vices to be 
good, and Virtues to be bad !" Could any 
thing worse than this be expected from an 
Emissary of Satan ? 

Lost to all shame, and incapable of blushing, 



15 

still have they the outrageous Audacity to de- 
clare, that, it is necessary to our Salvation, that 
we become subject to the Pope and Members of 
their apostolic Church ; and that, otherwise, 
we are Schismatics, Heretics, and in the certain 
road to endless Perdition ! Such is their un- 
godly and barbarous Charity ! 

The doctrine of human Merit, of Justifica- 
tion by Works, and Works of Supererogation* 
is another antichristian Error utterly subversive 
of all pure and uncorrupt Christianity — yet, un- 
disguisedly and earnestly asserted by the Church 
of Rome ; the reverse of which — or, Justifica- 
tion by Faith only, is that, which constitutes 
the vital Essence of the Christian Verity ; or, as 
Luther expressed it, Articulus stantis aut ca- 
dentis pcclesiae, " that Article, with which the 
true Church of Christ must stand or fall." 
Not, however, to dwell any longer on the Er- 
rors and Heresies of the Papal Communion, let 
us glance a little at her Worship. 

What think you, for instance, of praying in 
an unknown Tongue ? Is this to pray, either 
with the Understanding, or with the Spirit ? 
Can any thing be more opposite to common 
Sense, sound Reason, or heartfelt Piety ? or, 
can you conceive a greater mockery of the 



16 

divine Majesty ? But, what says the Council 
of Trent? " Though the Mass contain great 
instruction, yet it seemeth not expedient that it 
should be celebrated every where in the vulgar 
tongue : if any man shall say, that Mass ought 
to be celebrated only in the vulgar tongue, let 
him be accursed!" These people never seem 
to be in their own element, but when they are 
dealing out Curses ! Such is the evil Genius 
of their own System. 

What think you again of their worship of 
Images ? " It is the constant judgment of our 
Divines," says one of their admired Writers, 
" that the Image is to be worshipped and ho- 
noured with the same Honour and Worship 
wherewith that is to be worshipped whereof it 
is an Image •" and another, " that it is simply 
and absolutely to be believed, that Images are 
to be worshipped in Churches and out of 
Churches — and, that the contrary is an hereti- 
cal doctrine!" How far this accords with the 
second Commandment you will readily judge. 
It requires neither prodigious Learning, nor un- 
common Capacity. 

But, what think you, once more, of the ido- 
latrous devotion paid to filthy Relics— Saints- 
Angels— and, more than all, to the Virgin 



17 

Mary ? " Hail, Queen of Heaven," say they, 
" Mother of God ; Mother of divine Grace : 
command thv most beloved Son that he would 
vouchsafe to lift up our minds from the love of 
earthly things to heavenly desires. To Thee, 
O holy Lady Mary, and to thy blessed protec- 
tion, and into the bosom of thy Mercy, do we 
commend ourselves this day and every day, and 
all our hope and consolation do we commit to 
Thee!" 

We come now to the licentious Abomina- 
tions, which they avowedly sanction in the 
Papal constitution : which, in some instances, 
were carried to such an abandoned and profli- 
gate excess, as to provoke that very Reforma- 
tion, which they most unintentionally occa- 
sioned. Thus, by a divine Alchymy — if I may 
so speak — was an incalculable good elicited from 
a most unexampled evil. It should seem, as if 
this Evil had been permitted of Heaven, to as- 
tonish mankind out of those complicated impu- 
rities and blasphemies into which they had 
been gradually seduced, cajoled, and plunged, 
by this mystic Babylon and her Fornications. 
" The great Separation from the Church of 
Rome," says Bishop Hurd, " was every where 
justified on this idea — that Rome was the Ba- 
bylon of the Revelations." Rev. 18. 1 — 5. 

c 



But, not to dismiss the gigantic horrors of 
these said Indulgences too hastily, what says 
that very learned and correct Historian, Mo- 
sheim, on this topic ? " At the period in which 
Luther arose, the public Worship of God was 
no more than a pompous round of Ceremonies 
— the greatest part of which were insignificant 
and senseless ; while the Discourses of the Few, 
that were at all qualified to administer instruc- 
tion, contained little else than fictitious reports 
of Miracles, and Prodigies, insipid Fables, and 
illiterate Jargon. The Subjects, on which they 
generally declaimed, were the Authority of the 
holy Mother-Church and the obligations of 
obedience to her decisions ; the virtues and 
merits of the Saints and their interest in the 
court of Heaven ; the dignity, glory, and love, 
of the blessed Virgin ; the efficacy of Relics ; 
the duty of endowing Monasteries ; the into- 
lerable burnings of Purgatory ; and the utility of 
Indulgences'' 

" This universal reign of Ignorance and Su- 
perstition was dexterously, yet basely improved, 
by the Rulers of the Church, to fill their Cof- 
fers and to drain the purses of the deluded mul- 
titude : and, indeed, all the various ranks and 
orders of the Clergy had each their particular 
method of fleecing the people. The Bishops, 



19 

when they wanted Money for their private 
pleasures, or for the exigencies of the Church, 
granted to their flock the power of purchasing 
the remission of the penalties imposed upon 
transgressors by a sum of Money — or, in other 
words, they published Indulgences — which be- 
came an inexhaustible Source of opulence to 
the episcopal Orders. 

" When the Roman Pontiffs cast an eye on 
the immense treasures that the inferior Rulers 
of the church were accumulating, by the sale of 
these Indulgences^ they assumed almost en- 
tirely this traffic to themselves. In consequence 
of which, the Court of Rome became the ge- 
neral Magazine of Indulgences ; and the Pon- 
tiffs published not only an universal, but, what 
they called, a plenary remission of all the tem- 
poral pains and penalties annexed to certain 
transgressions, for certain pecuniary considera- 
tions : nay more — for, audaciously usurping the 
authority of God himself, they impiously pre- 
tended to abolish even the punishments which 
are reserved in a future state for the workers of 
iniquity! 

" In all these scandalous and profane mea- 
sures, they were justified by a monstrous Doc- 
trine, sanctioned by a canonized Saint in the 

c 2 



20 

highest repute among them — which contained 
among others the following enormities — " That 
there actually existed an immense treasure of 
Merit, which the Saints had performed beyond 
what was necessary to their own Salvation — 
and which were therefore applicable to the be- 
nefit of others ; that the Guardian and Dispen- 
ser of this precious treasure was the Pope ; and, 
that he was empowered to assign to such as he 
thought proper a portion of this exhaustless 
Source of merit, suitable to their respective 
guilt, and sufficient to deliver them from the 
punishment due to their crimes !** 

Could any thing aggravate a Doctrine, so 
truly blasphemous and infernal as this, it is, 
that, among the articles framed at the Council 
of Trent to be acknowledged on oath, this is 
one — " That the power of Indulgences was 
left by Christ in the Church, and that the use 
thereof is most wholesome for Christ's people; 
as appears by the Bull of Pope Pius IV. dated 
at Rome, 1564 ! 

Another prominent Feature in the Papal 
abomination, and in which it is more terrific 
and sanguinary than either Pagans or Mahome- 
tans — as being ingenious and inventive in Cruel- 
ty~is, that Spirit of persecution, which is one 



21 



»f the strongest marks of that Beast, which is 
said to be even " drunk with the blood of the 
Saints." No Church, that ever professed the 
Faith of Christ, has been half so remote as this, 
from that Christian Charity, which is so highly 
celebrated in all the Scriptures ; and, without 
which indeed, we are nothing in the sight of 
God. The millions, that have fallen a sacrifice 
to this Spirit, are countless. Some faint idea 
may be formed of it, by the perusal of Fox's 
Book of Martyrs, and the History of the Inqui- 
sition. 

Among numerous specimens of this diabo- 
lical Spirit — which might easily be adduced — 
let the subsequent short extract from a Popish 
Bull suffice. " We excommunicate and ana- 
thematize, in the name of God Almighty, Fa- 
ther, Son, and holy Ghost, and by the authority 
of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by 
our own, all Hussites, Wickliffists, Lutherans, 
Zuinglians, Calvinists, Hugonots, Anabaptists, 
Trinitarians, and Apostates from the Christian 
Faith" — meaning thereby, Popery — " and all 
other Heretics, by whatsoever name they are 
called and of whatsoever Sect they be : as also, 
their adherents, receivers, favourers, and, gene- 
rally, any defenders of them ; together with all 
those, who, without our authority, or that of 



22 

the apostolic See, knowingly read, keep, print, 
or any ways, for any cause whatsoever, pub- 
licly defend their books, containing Heresy or 
treating of Religion ; as also, Schismatics, or 
those who withdraw themselves from the obe- 
dience of Us or the Bishop of Rome fcr the 
time being \" 

Here might I enlarge to an almost unlimited 
extent; but, the time would fail me: let it be 
enough to remark, what all History will attest 
by indubitable Facts, that the Spirit of Popery 
is a Spirit of the most, ferocious Intolerance and 
malignant Persecution. Of this, there is no age 
of the Church, from the sixth to the sixteenth 
Century, in which it has not given the most 
horrible proofs. " Who indeed can make any 
computation, or even form any conception of 
the incalculable numbers of pious Christians, 
that have fallen a sacrifice to the bigotry and 
cruelty of the Church of Rome ? It has been 
stated, upon authorities the most learned and 
cautious, that, by the savage barbarity of this 
apostate communion, notless than aMillion of the 
Albigenses and Waldenses — those zealous Wit- 
nesses for Christ — were immolated. From the 
first institution of the Jesuits, in little more 
than thirty years — nine hundred thousand 
orthodox Christians were slain. In the 



23 

Netherlands alone, the Duke of Alva boasted, 
that, within a few years, he had dispatched 
to the amount of thirty-six thousand by the 
hand of the common Executioner. In the 
space of scarce forty years, the Inquisition 
destroyed with various kinds of torture a hun- 
dred and fifty thousand. So true is that Scrip- 
ture, which tells us, that she was drunk with 
the blood of the Saints/' But, no more of these 
horrors. 

This, however, may not be an unsuitable 
place to take some cursory notice of the two 
chief Columns, by which this superstitious — 
idolatrous — sanguinary — heretical — and blas- 
phemous Fabrick has been supported ; the Je- 
suits and the Inquisition. " The Church and 
the Court of Rome," says Mosheim, " have de- 
rived more influence and support from the la- 
bours of this single Order than from all their 
other Emissaries and Ministers, and all the 
various exertions of their power and opulence. 
It was this famous Company, which spreading 
itself with astonishing rapidity through the 
greatest part of the habitable Globe, confirmed 
the wavering nations in the faith of Rome ; re- 
strained the progress of the rising Sects ; gained 
over a prodigious number of Pagans, and at- 
tacked the pretended Heretics of all denomina- 



24 

tions. A pious prelate, who flourished in a 
neighbouring kingdom, about the period of the 
Reformation, described them in these terms— 
" There is a new Fraternity of late sprung up, 
who call themselves Jesuits — which will de- 
ceive many ; who are much after the manner of 
the Scribes and Pharisees. For, these sorts will 
turn themselves into several forms ; with the 
Heathens, a Heathenist — with the Jews, a Jew 
— with the Reformers, a Reformade — with the 
Atheists, an Atheist — purposely to know 
your intentions and minds, your heart and in- 
clinations — and thereby to bring you at last to 
be like the Fool that said in his heart, " There 
is no God. ,J> As a Seminary of those Serpents 
is now planted in the heart of this Protestaut 
land — and multitudes of Jesuits are roving in 
disguise among us — you will do well and wise- 
ly to read the History of the Jesuits, and Pas- 
cal's Provincial Letters — both very recently and 
seasonably published. 

Addressing you, as I now do— and it may be 
for the last time — in all the different characters 
of a Man, a Citizen, a Patriot, a Christian, and 
a Minister — I cannot let this opportunity slip, 
of urging upon you the attentive perusal of the 
History of the Inquisition — again revived in 
Europe : and this I press the more earnestly, 



25 

that you may be apprized of all the anguish and 
agony you may be called to endure, should 
Popery gain the ascendant among us : of which, 
the indications are at this hour tremendously 
apparent. 

I profess myself to be one of those, who 
honour the name and memory of those Dis- 
senters, who, when the papal abomination had 
nearly reached the summit of all its unequalled 
Infamy, openly and unanimously asserted, that 
*- c the public and established Religion was a 
System of errors and superstition ; and, that the 
dominion, which the Popes had usurped over 
Christians, as also the authority they exercise 
in religious matters, were unlawful and tyranni- 
cal : though, to this intrepid Declaration it was 
owing, that the Pontiffs had recourse to the 
accursed Inquisition, for the purpose of defeating 
and subduing their enemies. From this occur- 
rence, in the thirteenth Century, originated that 
dreadful Tribunal, which committed such mul- 
titudes, suspected of heresy, to tortures and 
flames without mercy. It is no more than what 
Truth and Justice demand, to say of the In- 
quisitors commissioned by this Court, that they 
were Devils incarnate, and instigated by all the 
furies of Hell. Consult any history of the In- 
quisition. 



26 

By taking all these premises into a collective 
view, you cannot be surprised at the style in 
which the holy Scriptures have delineated this 
hideous Compound of every thing that is to be 
abjured — detested — and abhorred: for, such is 
Popery. Hear then how the inspired writings 
have designated this Monster. They speak of 
it as, emphatically, " The great Apostacy 
or falling away from the pure religion of the 
Bible — from " the truth as it is in Jesus ; which 
Apostacy was to be signified and evidenced by 
" lying wonders and alt deceivableness of un- 
righteousness according to the working of 
Satan i? and, " it is impossible so much as to 
enumerate all the artifices, impostures, and false- 
hoods, which have been invented by the Romish 
Community ; the fabulous Books they have 
forged, under the names of Apostles, Saints, and 
Martyrs ; the fabulous Legends, of their lives, 
actions, sufferings, and deaths ; the fabulous 
Miracles ascribed to their sepulchres, bones, 
relics, and the like ; the fabulous Dreams, 
Visions, Revelations, and Apparitions ; and, 
even the fabulous Saints, which never existed 
but in the imagination of their worshippers ; and 
all this sanctioned by their Monks, Priests, and 
Bishops ! So that, it is difficult to say, whether 
under the pretence of superior Sanctity they 
have been more distinguished for their hypocrisy 5 



27 

or their cruelty ; their hardened face, or their 
more hardened conscience." 

One of the titles given to this great Defection 
from sacred Verity is, " The Man of Sin:" 
by which, numerous Writers on this subject, of 
the first eminence, have demonstrated can only 
be intended the Pope, or a succession of Popes ; 
to whom this denomination is applicable, not 
merely on account of the scandalous lives of 
many Popes, but much more so, by reason of 
their scandalous doctrines and principles ; dis- 
pensing with the most necessary duties, and 
granting, nay selling, pardons and indulgences 
to the most abominable crimes. This " Man 
of Sin," we are told, " exalteth himself above 
all that is called God or that is worshipped" — 
affecting and asserting an absolute Supremacy 
over all ; not only above Bishops and Primates, 
but, likewise, above Kings and Emperors ; de- 
posing some and advancing others ; obliging 
them to prostrate themselves before him — to 
kiss his toe — to hold his stirrup — to wait bare- 
footed at his gate; treading even upon their 
necks and kicking^ off the imperial crown with 
his foot : nor satisfied with all this, but, dis- 
pensing with all laws, human and divine; 
raising himself above Christ and GOD him- 
self— making the Word of God of none effect— 



28 

by his traditions— forbidding what God hath 
commanded, and commanding what God hath 
forbidden — consenting to be called, " his Holi- 
ness" and arrogating to himself the divine at- 
tribute of Infallibility — and, to complete this 
mass of astonishing blasphemy, suffering him- 
self to be styled our Lord God the Pope— 
another God upon earth — whose Dominion ex- 
tends itself to all things celestial, terrestrial, and 
infernal !" 

Another title, expressly given by the Pen of 
inspiration to this Man of Sin is, that of, " The 
Son of Perdition." The only person, except 
the Pope, that is distinguished by this deno- 
mination, is Judas ; which, if it mean any 
thing, must, I presume, obviously import some 
striking resemblance between them. How then 
does this similitude appear ? Judas, we all know, 
was, under the profession of attachment to the 
Son of God and his Cause, a false Apostle : 
and what is Popery — though daring to call itself 
Christianity — but a tissue of lies ? Judas, we 
all know, betrayed his Lord and Master for pecu- 
niary considerations ; and is not this a most pro- 
minent Feature of the Romish Church ? Judas, 
we all know, was devoted to destruction ; and to 
this awful end will the papal Heresy be sacrificed 
in God's appointed time. Inexplicable and 



29 

puzzling as present appearances may be, the 
mystic Babylon must fall ; and great will be the 
fall thereof. 

But, neither is this all ; for, this great Apos- 
tacy, this Man of Sin, this Son of Perdition, is 
pointed out to us again as " The Mystery of 
Iniquity/' For, whereas Christ is the great 
Mystery of Godliness, this is " The Anti- 
christ:" the one is set in direct opposition 
to the other. If, therefore, there can be no 
Salvation but in the former, what can we ex- 
pect but every thing the reverse from the latter ? 
Especially when it is recollected, that this is 
" The Mother of abominations." 

Placing. all these Titles before our eyes in 
one view, it is hardly possible not to observe, 
that Inspiration itself seems to labour for lan- 
guage to depict this Monster in the most re- 
pulsive and odious colours. Is it any marvel 
then, that it has been the most anxious study 
of the Church of Rome to suppress the holy 
Scriptures ? Is it any marvel, that she has bel- 
lowed out her severest and most tremendous 
Anathemas against those who translate and read 
them in the vulgar tongue ? Is it any marvel, 
that, like the Scribes, Pharisees, and Hypocrites 
of other times, she should shut up this Key of 
divine wisdom and knowledge ? For a thousand^ 



30 

years — to speak within compass — has she been 
occupied, to the utmost of her influence and 
energies, to deprive the Laity of this invaluable 
blessing. It is not denied, indeed, that there 
have always been a few among her Members, 
who, as far as they dare, have been Witnesses 
for God and his Truth : some happy Exceptions 
too there are at this moment ; O might they 
increase and multiply abundantly ! but, Ex- 
ceptio non facit regulam ; " Exceptions have 
nothing to do with the general System :" that, 
is invariably the same execrable thing. 

What then is the obvious, general, and com- 
prehensive Inference to be drawn from all this? 
It is, that if Popery be the great Corruption of 
Christianity, it can never lead us to*the saving 
knowledge of Truth or Grace : if it be the Man 
of Sin, it can never be the Way of righteousness 
and holiness : if it be the Son of perdition, it can 
never conduct us to the kingdom of heaven : if 
it be the Mother of abominations, it must be 
the surest Guide to all manner of vice and 
wickedness : and, if it be the Antichrist, what a 
nefarious prostitution of terms must it be, to 
call it the religion of the Son of God ! In fact, 
whether we abide by the testimony of Scripture, 
or of History, we must be convinced, that it is 
a most enormous Compound of Imposture, 
Falsehood, Barbarity, Idolatry, and Blasphemy, 



31 

Concisely as all this is stated, nothing could 
be less gratifying than to be employed in such 
a recital, did not the necessity of the present 
Crisis imperiously demand it. When every 
Voice should be raised to sound an Alarm, why 
should mine — feeble as it may be — be silent ? 
It is not however merely for the sake of sound- 
ing an Alarm, that this effort is made ; but, 
rather, to remind you of the inexpressible ob- 
ligations we are under to divine Providence for 
the Protestant Reformation ; by which, we 
were delivered from all the complicated Errors, 
Heresies, and Horrors, of this Mystery of Iniqui- 
ty ; " that great Whore/' as the Church of 
Rome is called by the Spirit of Prophecy, 
" which did corrupt the earth with her Fornica- 
tions/' If the serious Recollection of such an 
Emancipation does not inspire us with the most 
fervid emotions of Thankfulness and Praise 
to the beneficent Giver of all good, whether 
personal or national, it is to be feared, that we 
are past all moral feeling — that we are debased 
to the lowest degree of mental Pravity — and, 
that the inestimable blessings of Redemption 
itself have left no suitable impressions on our 
hearts ; but, whatever my unwilling fears may 
be, I hope better things, though I thus speak. 

How is it ttien, that we certain lv ought to 



32 

be affected at the recollection of the marvel- 
lous Event I am now aiming, though with 
Powers extremely inadequate to the task, to 
celebrate ? especially, when it is considered, 
that we have enjoyed the benefit of this glorious 
Reformation for three hundred years. Deem 
me not extravagant, should I say on this oc- 
casion, " bound every heart and every bosom 
burn/' For, I may venture to appeal to your 
own Reason and Understanding, whether, after 
due reflection, this be not the most astonishing 
display of the divine Goodness our Land has 
ever experienced. " Sing, O ye heavens, for 
the Lord hath done it : shout, ye lower parts 
of the earth ; break forth into singing, ye moun- 
tains, O forest, and every tree therein " for, the 
Lord hath delivered us from a Bondage, even 
worse than that with which the Egyptian 
Tyrant once cruelly oppressed the ancient 
Israel ; from Dangers, more to be dreaded than 
all the plagues with which Pharaoh and his 
host were visited ; and, from a Creed, the 
very spawn of Infernal Inspiration. " O that 
Men would therefore praise the Lord for his 
Goodness, and declare the Wonders that he 
dceth for the children of men ! and let them 
sacrifice the sacrifices of Thanksgiving, and tell 
out his works with rejoicing: let them exalt 
him ajso in the congregation of the people, and 
2 



33 



praise him in the assembly of the Elders. 
Whoso is wise will observe these things, and 
they shall understand the loving-kindness of the 
Lord." 

It is not enough, however, that our hearts 
are attuned to such adoring strains, merely for 
our miraculous release from all the chains and 
fetters, from all the evils and miseries, of the 
papal Heresy ; for, to the Spirit of the Protestant 
Reformation, we may confidently ascribe our 
Protestant Constitution both in Church and 
State — together with all the civil and religious 
Liberties, which form its vital Essence. Let 
us touch a little then on the unrivalled Ex- 
cellence of the nature and genius of our poli- 
tical State; on eulogizing which, our mos 
eminent Statesmen have for a long succession 
of Ages exhausted all the powers of Eloquence. 

That I may not appear to be travelling out of 
my own proper Department, or attempting a 
subject to which I am hardly competent, I will 
borrow the language of one, who was unques- 
tionably a complete Master of it ; and, who 
very well knew, that Popery and Tyranny of 
every kind were inseparable Allies — under whose 
baneful influence neither the Mind nor the 
Body could be free. 

D 



34 

" The political Writers of antiquity will not 
allow more than three regular Forms of govern- 
ment : the first, when the sovereign Power 
is lodged in an aggregate Assembly consisting 
of all the free members of a Community — • 
which is called a Democracy : the second, when 
it is lodged in a Council composed of select 
Members — and then it is stiled an Aristocracy : 
the last, when it is entrusted in the hands of a 
single person — and then it takes the name of 
a Monarchy. All other species of Govern- 
ment, they say, are either corruptions of, or 
reducible to, these three. 

" In a Democracy, where the right of making 
laws resides in the people at large, public Virtue, 
or goodness of Intention, is more likely to be 
found than in either of the other qualities of 
Government. Popular assemblies are frequents 
ly foolish in their contrivance and weak in their 
execution — but, generally, mean to do the 
thing that is right and just, and have always 
a degree of Patriotism or public Spirit: In 
Aristocracies, there is more Wisdom to be 
found than in the other Forms of Government ; 
being composed of the most intelligent and ex- 
perienced Citizens ; but, there is less honesty 
than in a Republic and less strength than in a 
Monarchy. A Monarchy is indeed the most 



35 

powerful of any: for, by the entire conjunc- 
tion of the legislative and executive Powers, 
all the sinews of Government are knit together 
and united in the hand of the Prince : but 
then, there is imminent danger of his employ- 
ing that strength to improvident or oppressive 
purposes. 

" Thus, these three species of Government 
have all of them their several perfections and 
imperfections. Democracies are usually the 
best calculated to direct the end of a law ; 
Aristocracies, to invent the means by which 
that end shall be obtained ; and Monarchies, 
to carry those means into execution : and the 
Ancients, as was observed, had in general no 
idea of any other permanent form of Govern- 
ment but these three : for, though Cicero de- 
clares himself of opinion, esse optime consti- 
tutam Rempublicam, quae ex tribus generi- 
bus illis, regali, optimo, et populari, sit 
modice confusa, yet Tacitus treats this notion 
of a mixed Government, formed out of them 
all, and partaking of the advantages of each, 
as a visionary whim, and one that, if effected, 
could never be lasting or secure. 

" But, happily for us of this Island, the 
British Constitution has long remained, and I 



36 

trust will long continue, a standing exception 
to the truth of this observation. For, as with 
us the executive power of the Laws is lodged 
in a single person, they have all the advantages 
of strength and dispatch, that are to be found 
in the most absolute Monarchy: and, as the 
Legislature of the kingdom is entrusted to 
three distinct Powers, entirely independent of 
each other — first, the King ; secondly, the Lords 
spiritual and temporal, which is an aristocrati- 
cal Assembly, selected for their Piety, their 
Birth, their Wisdom, their Valour, or their 
Property ; and thirdly, the House of Commons, 
freely chosen by the People from among them- 
selves, which makes it a kind of Democracy ; 
as this aggregate Body, actuated by different 
springs and attentive to different interests, com- 
poses the British Parliament, and has the su- 
preme disposal of every thing, there can no 
inconvenience be attempted by either of the 
three Branches, but will be withstood by one 
of the other two ; each branch being armed 
with a negative power, sufficient to repel any 
innovations which it shall Jthink inexpedient op 
dangerous. 

" Thus, as the - State is a collective Body, 
composed of a multitude of Individuals, united 
for their general Safety and Convenience, and 
intending to act together as one Man, the con- 



titutional Government of this Empire is so 
admirably tempered and compounded, that no- 
thing can endanger or hurt it, but destroying 
the Equilibrium of power between one branch 
of the Legislature and the rest/' By those, 
therefore, who are solicitous to preserve the 
integrity of the Constitution so nicely adjusted 
for the good of the whole, this is what is most 
to be dreaded, and most carefully to be watched ; 
nor should any thing be guarded against with 
a more vigilant eye than the tendency of our 
Constitution — from causes easily to be assigned 
— to an absolute Monarchy. The great political 
Maxim never to be lost sight of, is, Salus populi 
Lex est suprema. 

From a Constitution thus wisely constructed, 
it may be presumed, and it has indeed been ob- 
served, by one of its most judicious and 
warmest Advocates, that, " if a Convention 
were nominated by the free vote of every man 
in the Country, for the purpose of framing a 
Government, they would express no other wish 
than for the Constitution which had been trans- 
mitted to them by the virtue of their Ancestors, 
and would retain the form, the substance, an<} 
the principles of it unaltered." How could it 
be otherwise ? since under this Constitution we 
enjoy all the civil and religious Privileges we 



38 

can rationally desire ; our Rights are secured 
and defended by Laws, to which we give our 
virtual assent ; and, as to Liberty in all its 
views — if indeed our ideas of Liberty are cor- 
rect, sober, legitimate — have we not Liberty of 
person, of property, of conscience ? have we 
not freedom of Speech — the freedom of the 
Press — and the freedom of trial by Jury ? To 
aim at more, would be licentious. No moral 
Agent should live as he lists., but as he ought. 

It will not be denied, however, that, in this 
unrivalled Constitution, there are many and 
great Abuses: and yet, nothing can be more 
absurd, not to say, perilous, than to contend 
for that ideal Perfection, which philosophic 
Theorists are so propense to indulge — and 
which, in the present state of human Beings — 
imperfect at the best — can exist only in an ex- 
quisitely refined and visionary Imagination. 
In this respect, an old Adage may be applied 
with as much utility as propriety — and, fond 
as we may be of thinking to improve what is 
amiss, by the experiment of Innovation, " Bet- 
ter it is to bear the Ills we suffer" — and suffer 
some we must — " than fly to others that we 
know not of :" not that this Maxim is appli- 
cable to every Mode of political Government ; 
it is restricted here to our own. 



39 

What then, are Abuses to be connived at and 
•to pass unheeded, till they terminate in the 
eventual Dissolution of the very thing we so 
highly extol ? God forbid ! But, to be much 
surprised at them, is too sure a sign that we 
have made no great advancement in the science 
of Man. For, can you tell me any single thing 
worth having that is not abused ? Health — 
Talents — Wit — Genius — Power — Influence — 
Prosperity — every bounty of Providence — nay, 
the very Grace of God itself— all, all have been 
abused : and who, and where, is He, that has 
discovered an -universal Panacea for all these 
Abuses ? I know of but One myself, at all likely 
to answer so important and interesting a pur- 
pose ; nor is it any great Secret ; but, most un- 
fortunately, it has never been sufficiently tried. 
What is it ? True Religion and Virtue, Only 
permit Them to preside in your Parliament and 
to rule over every distinct rank and class of the 
Community, and all these Abuses, which dis- 
grace our Government or our Nature, will pass 
away, as mists before the rising Sun. 

Much have we heard and read about Pa- 
triotism : but, alas! how much of late years has 
it been the subject of Ridicule, Satire, and 
Contempt ! In early youth, and in the writings 
of ancient Greece and Rome, we were taught 



40 

to look upon a Patriot as an exalted Character: 
but, what is the Spirit of modern Patriotism? 
It has been said, that, " if we reflect on the 
history of the men, who in this Country, have 
made a figure in the character of Patriots, we 
shall be convinced that they made the pretence 
of the virtue a mere Ladder to mount high in 
office and wealth, or a mere Mask to gratify 
their ambition." That there may be too much 
truth in this may be readily conceded: but, let 
us hope, that it is more severe than just : for, as 
there have been and are, birds of Paradise — 
there have been and are, no doubt, who have 
a claim to the honourable distinction of Patriots. 
That they are comparatively few, must as 
readily be acknowledged. 

The greatest injury, that has been done to 
the cause of genuine Patriotism, has been a 
deplorable want, if not a total disregard, of all 
the moral and religious principle on the part of 
the many that have affected it ; and, who might 
otherwise have immortalized their name and 
memory : and, for this reason, we feel ourselves 
obliged to contend, that, where there is no 
moral Patriotism there is no true Patriotism ; 
and, that he loves his Country most and serves it 
best, whose exertions to promote its Religion 
and Virtue are the most strenuous and per- 



41 

severing. Whether this will accord with the 
Philosophy of Logic, I stay not to inquire ; 
should it harmonize with the Morality of Logic, 
I fear no Opponent. 

Standing then on this solid ground, I proceed 
to argue, that the warmest Zeal for the Qualities 
I am now recommending, is the most generous 
and disinterested proof we can give, that we love 
our Country : because, they are the Strength 
and Glory of a Nation. Who indeed is so lost 
to virtuous decency and reflection, as to dispute 
that the Vitiosity and Criminality of mankind 
are of all things most destructive of the good 
Order, the Peace, the Felicity of general So- 
cietv ? If so, where shall we find the most 
powerful Preventive of these Evils ? where, the 
most efficient Means of lessening them ? Clearly 
not, in the severity of the Punishments with 
which they are visited — but, in successfully 
urging the dictates of divine Revelation ; whose 
cogent motives are the best calculated to im- 
press the Mind, and to gain the Heart to 
" whatosever things are true — whatsoever things 
are just — whatsoever things are lovely — whatso- 
ever things are pure— and whatsoever things are 
of good report." Only inspire the affections of 
the soul with a due esteem of that Meekness, 
that Goodness, that Piety, that universal Bene- 



42 

volence and Charity, which the christian Faith 
every where inculcates, and which nothing but 
the basest Depravity of our nature can resist, 
and what then ? Why then, you have furnished 
a complete Remedy for all the disorders, con- 
fusion, and distraction, which embitter our 
existence — and, from the overwhelming uncon- 
trouled increase of which, the greatest Empires 
under heaven may be said to owe their ruin and 
their fall : nor will our own Constitution, en- 
viable as it is, be any security against their 
subversive effects. 

You will perceive by this, how incumbent it 
is on us, as the Ministers and Defenders of the 
christian Faith, to draw out all our artillery 
against the least approaches of Infidelity, and, if 
it be possible, to crush it in the bud. It is not, 
that we w r ould set up ourselves as Oracles — it 
is not, that we are actuated by the prejudices of 
an ignorant and contemptible Bigotry — it is not, 
that we would assail the rights of private 
Judgment, nor that we would vindicate the 
cause of Priestcraft; but it is, that we would 
contribute our mite towards the maintenance 
and advancement of the general Good, and the 
promotion of the true dignity and happiness of 
our Kind; whether we contemplate them in 
their individual capacity — or, as social Beings — 



43 

or, as moral Agents. Could Infidelity improve 
them in either of these respects, we should hail 
its propagation and success ; but, confident as 
we are, that wherever it prevails, it carries with 
it a deadly poison, the very Bane of every thing 
that is virtuous and excellent, its utter annihi- 
lation would be our joy and triumph. By a 
recent Revolution, its course and its issues have 
been recorded in characters of Blood and Horror. 
If, therefore, w r e have any true Regard for our 
Species or our Country, we shall unanimously 
wage and swear irreconcileable war with this 
worse than pestilential Foe. 

The strongest Barrier, that has ever yet been 
raised against it in our favoured land, is, The 
ecclesiastical Establishment ; which, amidst all 
its secret or open Adversaries, may God pre- 
serve in its original and scriptural purity! 
But, before I drop another syllable in its com- 
mendation, be it premised, that for this ines- 
timable Blessing we are indebted to The Pro- 
testant Reformation ; and, be it noted, at the 
same time, that I mean no attack on the Con- 
science or Opinion of those, who may differ 
with me on this topic : among whom, there are 
multitudes, who for the exemplariness of their 
Piety and Morals demand our highest esteem. 
Most cautiously would I observe, in every step 



4* 

1 take, the apostolical injunction — " to give no 
intentional offence to the Jew, to the Gentile, 
or to the Church of God." Should I be thought 
partial to my own views, that Partiality, I 
humbly conceive, may be fully justified. 

In the remarks I shall submit then on our 
national Churchy it enters not into my design 
to dwell upon any particulars in this grand 
Institute that are merely circumstantial or cere- 
monial—but, upon those only, which are vital 
and substantial ; such as, the Doctrines, which 
constitute its Creed — the Religion it recom- 
mends — and, the devotional Worship, in which 
it calls upon us to unite; nor can I suffer my- 
self to recognize any of its Members as true 
Churchmen, who do not cordially adopt the 
first — embrace the next — and observe the last. 
The more critically all these are investigated, 
the more clearly we shall discover, that they 
are purified from the least stain of the popish 
Abomination : for, we shall see no trace in them 
of Superstition or Idolatry— of the sacrifice of 
the Mass— of Transubstantiation or adoration of 
the Host — of Purgatory, Invocation of Saints 
or Angels— of the worship of Images or Relics 
— of Indulgences — of praying in an unknown 
tongue — of the Merit of good works, the autho- 
rity of Traditions, the monarchy of the Pope, 



45 



the infallibility of the Church of Rome, her 
sovereign power over men's Conciences, or any 
such like Errors. 

Now then, where are we to look for the 
avowed Creed of the national Church, as Pro- 
testant ? In her Articles and Homilies ; with 
which every Member of her Communion is pre- 
sumed to be intimately acquainted — though 
many of them, we fear, have never carefully 
read the former, or even seen the latter ! This 
however tells, nothing to their credit : pious 
Dissenters blush for them. These Articles and 
Homilies, so far as they relate to christian 
Principles, are the fixed invariable Standard of 
our Belief: not because they were compiled by 
our illustrious Reformers and Martyrs — but, 
because they are sanctioned and supported by 
the pure Word of God : which has been fre- 
quently demonstrated by Writers of sound 
Learning and strict Integrity. 

Under this conviction , every Minister of the 
Establishment is required to sign them, ex 
Animo, as Articles which he both honestly be- 
lieves and will faithfully preach and defend: 
for, take notice, I entreat you, of the Declara- 
tion prefixed to these Articles, agreed upon by 
the Archbishops and Bishops of both Provinces 



46 

and the whole Clergy, in the Convocation of 
1562 — " for avoiding Diversity of opinion, and 
for establishing Consent touching Religion. In 
this his Majesty's Declaration, the professed 
object was to conserve and maintain the Church 
in Unity of true Religion and in the bond of 
Peace'' Those Articles, it is affirmed, " do 
contain the true Doctrine of the Church of 
England agreeable to God's Word : which we 
do therefore ratify and confirm ; requiring all 
our subjects to continue in the uniform profes- 
sion thereof, and prohibiting the least difference 
from the said Articles ; from which we will not 
endure any varying or departing in the least de- 
gree : nor shall any man hereafter either print 
or preach to draw them aside any way — but, 
shall submit to them in the plain and full mean- 
ing thereof — and shall not put his own sense or 
comment to be the meaning, but shall take them 
in the literal and grammatical sense. " Nothing, 
I think, can be more explicit than this. 

These Articles, every Minister of our Com- 
munion is required to subscribe as a Confession 
of his Faith ; and, upon his accession to any 
Benefice, he is ordered to read them publicly 
in his parochial Church : as much as if he said, 
" Forasmuch as it appertained to all Christian 
Men, but, especially, the Ministers and Pastors 



47 

of the Church, being Teachers and Instructors 
of others, to be ready to give a reason of their 
Faith, when they shall be thereunto required, I, 
for my part, having the fear of God before my 
eyes and the testimony of my own Conscience, 
do acknowledge myself, and desire you to as- 
sent to, the same. These Articles, which I 
have now read to you, though they be appoint- 
ed by common order, yet do I without all com- 
pulsion, with freedom of Mind and Conscience, 
from the bottom of my Heart and upon most 
sure persuasion, acknowledge to be true and 
agreeable to God's Word : and therefore I ex- 
hort all, of whom I have Care, heartily and 
obediently to receive the same ; that we all, 
joining together in unity of Faith, Spirit, and 
Charity, may also be joined together in the 
kingdom of God — and that, through the merits 
and death of our Saviour Jesus Christ." 

A more complete Synopsis of sacred Truth is 
not to be found, in so narrow a compass, among 
all the harmonious Confessions of the Protestant 
churches, than that, which is presented to us 
in these said Articles. The scandalous idea, 
which some have broached, to suit a Jesuitical 
purpose of evasion and secular interest, that 
they are expressed in such an equivocal man- 



48 



ner. as to adapt themselves to opposite opinions* 
— is so cruel and unjust a reflexion on the Pro- 
bity of those who compiled them, as to merit 
nothing but scorn and indignation. To treat 
such an Insinuation with gravity, would be an 
insult to common decency, as well as to the 
memory of the best and greatest Ornaments of 
Christianity that have flourished for a thou- 
sand years. The very names of those, who have 
shewn it any respect, should be expunged from 
the annals of time. 

But, if the Creed of our Establishment is 
lodged in her Articles and Homilies, where shall 
we search for the nature of her devotional Wor- 
ship ? No doubt, in her Liturgy. Which, 
whether we consider it as a Composition, or as 
a Series of pious effusions, is of superlative 
excellence. As our plan is rather to hint, than 
to dilate, we can only glance at particulars. 
Thus, were it possible for any language to 
breathe the very soul of penitential Humilia- 
tion, it would be in our general Confessions. 
What again can be more sublime, beautiful, 
sententious, and comprehensive, than our Li- 
tany ? What more expressive and ardent than 
our common Thanksgiving 1 There is not a 
sacred Passion and Affection of the Heart, but 
3 



49 

what they are instrumentally calculated to ex~ 
cite ; and, it is our own fault, if they do not 
remind us that " God is a Spirit — and that they, 
who worship him acceptably, must worship 
him in spirit and in faith :" nor do they ever 
fail to assure us, that, neither our prayers nor 
our praises can ever ascend up as sweet-smel- 
ling incense before the throne of Mercy, but 
through the mediation and intercession of our 
adorable Redeemer : but for whom, both our 
persons and our services would be utterly re- 
jected. 

Cautious, as I am, of being tediously diffuse, 
I cannot omit a remark or two on our numerous 
Collects ; which, though they are little more 
than brief Aspirations, are replete with the most 
important instruction : so that, in the very act 
of supplicating for the blessings we need, if we 
are not wanting to ourselves, we are taught the 
choicest lessons of heavenly Wisdom. More 
fully to explain what I mean, you will permit 
me to insert here a doctrinal Analysis of a few 
of these concise and admirable Prayers ; which 
may serve to prove that they are not the less 
valuable because they are so short. 

Let us select, for instance, the Collect for the 

E 



50 



second Sunday in Advent. What are the Doc- 
trines it contains ? They are obviously these — 

D. 1. All holy Scriptures were written by 
the Inspiration of God for our Learning. 

D. 2. The blessed hope of everlasting Life is 
set before us therein, and is given to us in 
Christ Jesus. 

D. 3. It is God alone, who can incline and 
enable us so to hear, read, mark, learn, and in- 
wardly digest these Scriptures, as to embrace 
and ever hold fast this blessed Hope. 

Turn we to the first Sunday after Epiphany ; 
and what does that Collect teach us ? It 
teaches us, that 

D. 1. There is no acceptance of any of our 
Prayers with God, but upon the plea of Mercy. 

D. 2. If we would perceive and know what 
things we ought to do, our application must be 
made for that purpose to " The Father of 
Lights." 

D. 3. Nothing but the divine Power and 



5\ 

Grace can capacitate us to fulfil the same. See 
the ninth, tenth, and thirteenth Articles. 

What are we taught again in the Collect for 
the fifth Sunday after Epiphany ? That, 

D. 1. There is but one true Religion : 

D. 2. The Church of God is his own House- 
hold : Ephes. 2. 19—22: 

D. 3. The Church of God, or all the Mem- 
bers of his Household, may be known by this 
pious peculiarity — that, they do lean only on the 
hope of his Grace. They must therefore wholly 
disclaim any sufficiency in themselves — so much 
as to think a good thought. See the Collect for 
the second Sunday in Lent. 

What do we learn from the Collect for Ash- 
Wednesday ? That, 

D. I. There is no Forgiveness of sin where 
there is no penetential Sorrow for it : they are 
inseparably connected : 

D. 2. Nothing short of almighty Agency can 
create and make in us new and contrite Hearts : 

E 2 
3 



,52 

D. 5. Perfect Remission of sin is never to be 
obtained but from the divine Mercy, through 
the Sacrifice and Mediation of Jesus Christ. 
Consult Acts 13. 38, 39. Rom. 3. 20— -26. 
2 Cor. 5. 18—21. Hebr. 9. 11— 15. 10. 
14—22. 

The Collects appointed for Good Friday are 
very interesting : and what are the Doctrines 
we may gather from them ? That, 

D. 1. The christian Church is that Family of 
God, for whose sake and salvation Jesus Christ 
was betrayed arid crucified : 

D, 2. The whole mystical body of Christ is 
governed and sanctified fry his Spirit, that they 
may serve him in all holy conversation and 
godliness. 

D. 3. The prayers of this Church are un- 
ceasingly presented to God for the conversion of 
all Jews, Turks, and Infidels — that they may 
become one Fold under one Shepherd, Jesus 
Christ. 

What are we taught again in the Collect for 
the third Sunday after Easter ? That, 



53 

D. 1. It is God himself who shews to them 
that be in error the light of his Truth ; 

D. 2. Those, whom God himself is thus gra- 
ciously pleased to teach, will certainly turn into 
the Way of Righteousness : 

D.3. It is the bounden Duty of all those, who 
are brought into the fellowship of Christ's Re- 
ligion, to eschew every thing that is contrary to 
their Profession, and to follow all such things as 
are agreeable to the same. 

In this way could I cheerfully proceed to a 
considerable extent ; but, I must arrest my Pen, 
and limit myself to the several important Doc- 
trines virtually included in the Collects for the 
first and ninth Sundays after Trinity : and what 
are they ? They are, that, 

D. 1. God is the Strength of those who put 
their trust in Him : 

D. 2. Our perpetual Dependence must be on 
his ever-needful and gracious Help : 

D. 3. It is in vain that we attempt to please 
him, if we are not habitually disposed to keep 
his commandments both in Will and Deed : 
1 



54 

D, 4. The more we become acquainted with 
our own Hearts, the more ready shall we be to 
confess our own utter Insufficiency for every 
thing that is good : 

D. 5. The Influence and Aid of the holy 
Spirit are always necessary, if we would think 
and do what is rightful : 

D. 6. The Will of God should be followed 
as the sole Directory of our life and conduct. 

From the hasty Survey we have now taken 
both of the Creed and of the devotional Excel- 
lence — or, of the Articles and Liturgy of our 
Church — there will be no difficulty in stating 
what sort of a Religion she inculcates on all 
that belong to her Communion. According to 
my own conceptions, at least, it evidently ap- 
pears to be a Religion of Grace — a Religion of 
Faith — a Religion of Hope — a Religion of Cha- 
rity — and a Religion of Salvation, All these 
are the distinguishing Characteristics of Chris- 
tianity as the only Religion of divine origin ; 
whose great Charter is, the Covenant of Grace, 
.Peace, and Redemption — so rarely preached, 
and so much less understood. Seldom, indeed, 
do we now hear of that " everlasting Covenant, 
which is ordered in all things and sure." But, 



55 

not to digress from the point immediately be- 
fore us. We have just noticed the several 
constituent parts of that Religion, which is 
embraced, and proposed to us, by our ecclesiasti- 
cal Establishment: let us now see with what 
truth and propriety they have been thus ex- 
pressed. It may not be unprofitable to consider 
it a little in each of these views. 

The Religion, recommended to us by our 
national Church, is a Religion of Grace. Of 
the term, Grace, it is highly expedient to ob- 
serve — in order to avoid all confusion or mistake 
— there are two senses. One of these senses 
is, when the Grace of God stands opposed to 
the moral Power or Sufficiency of Man for the 
performance of any thing that is good and 
acceptable in the sight of God — the other, when 
it stands equally opposed to human Merit, 
or the Worthiness of our Works, to procure the 
favour of God. 

Now then, what is the unequivocal judgment 
of our Church respecting the moral Powers 
and Worthiness of unrenewed Man — or, of Man 
as he is in a State of nature ? She tells us, in 
her Articles, and in language, w T hich, one might 
suppose, the most subtile Jesuit could never 
torture from its plain and explicit import, that 



56 

" Original sin is the fault and corruption of the 
Nature of every man that is naturally engender- 
ed of the offspring of Adam ; whereby Man is 
very far gone from original Righteousness and 
is of his own Nature inclined to evil : so that 
the Flesh lusteth always contrary to the Spirit : 
and, therefore, in every person born into this 
world it deserveth God^s wrath and damnation/' 
— " The Condition of Man after the Fall of 
Adam is such, that he cannot turn and prepare 
himself, by his own natural Strength and good 
Works, to Faith and calling ii}6on God : where- 
fore, we have no Power to do good Works, 
pleasant and acceptable to God, without the 
Grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we 
may have a good Will — and working with us 
when we have that good Will." — " Works 
done before the Grace of Christ and the inspi- 
ration of his Spirit, are not pleasant to God ; 
forasmuch as they spring not of Faith in Jesus 
Christ: neither do they make men meet to 
receive Grace : yea, rather, for that they are 
not done as God hath willed and commanded 
them to be done, we doubt not but they have 
the nature of Sin/' 

Such is the strain of her Articles ; so simple, 
so plain, so intelligible, that common Sense 
cannot, and common Honesty will not, mis- 



67 

construe it. But now, let us see whether her 
Homilies are in perfect agreement with this hu- 
miliating Doctrine. What say they ? They say, 
that, " The holy Ghost, in writing the holy 
Scripture, is in nothing more diligent than to 
pull down Man's vain glory and pride ; which, 
of all vices, is most universally grafted in all 
mankind, even from the first infection of our 
Father Adam : and, therefore, we read in many 
places of Scripture, many notable lessons against 
this rooted vice, to teach us the most com- 
mendable virtue of Humility, how to know 
ourselves ; and to remember what we be of our- 
selves : forasmuch as the true knowledge of 
Ourselves is very necessary to come to the 
right knowledge of God ; for, of ourselves we 
can but bring forth such fruits as are described 
in Gal. v. 19 — 21. We have neither Faith, 
Hope, Charity, Patience, Chastity, nor any 
thing else that good is ; and, therefore, these 
virtues be called the fruits of the holy Ghost, 
and not the fruits of Man. Rom. iii. 10—19. 

" Let us, therefore, acknowledge ourselves 
before God miserable Sinners : let us earnestly 
repent and humble ourselves before God heartily, 
and cry to him for Mercy. Let us all confess 
that we are full of imperfections ; that of our- 
selves and by ourselves we have no goodness, 



5$ 

help, or salvation — but, contrariwise, sin, dam- 
nation, and everlasting death ; that we are, by 
nature, children of God's wrath, nor are able to 
make ourselves the children and inheritors of 
his glory ; we are not able of ourselves to think 
a good Thought or work a good Deed ; so that 
we can find in ourselves no hope of Salvation, 
but, rather, whatsoever maketh for Destruction." 

If this mortifying Doctrine does not tear up 
by the very root all possible idea of human 
Merit or Worthiness, no mathematical Proposi- 
tion can ever be demonstrated : but, upon this 
solid and immoveable Basis is erected that of 
the absolute necessity of divine Grace— whe- 
ther that Grace respect the free Favour of God, 
which is the first moving Cause of our Pardon, 
Peace, and eternal Redemption ; or, whether 
it respect that Principle, Spirit, and Practice, 
of universal Holiness, which can alone make us 
meet to be partakers of Glory everlasting. 

To me, however, it seems of vast utility, 
that our conceptions on this subject should be 
as clear and definitive as we can acquire. I 
observe then, that, as the Mercy of God is that 
attribute, which disposes him to compassionate 
and relieve the wretched, though worthless and 
guilty — his Grace is that perfection, which 



59 

inclines him to shew them favour without any 
antecedent terms, conditions, or qualifications, 
to conciliate or commend them to that favour. 
In this sense it must be understood, when it is 
said of his chosen people, that they are " jus- 
tified freely, by his Grace, through the Re- 
demption which is in Christ Jesus ;•' and again, 
" there remaineth also at this present time a 
remnant according to the election of Grace ; 
and, if it be of Grace, it is no more of Works ; 
otherwise, Grace is no more Grace ; for, by 
Grace ye are saved." Every act of divine Grace, 
properly so called, must therefore be considered 
as perfectly spontaneous, nothing ab extra 
moving thereto. God himself has indeed con- 
descended to explain it in his own words, when 
he says, " I will have mercy on whom I will 
have mercy, and I will have compassion on 
whom I will have compassion." It is indeed 
the high and exclusive prerogative of Heaven, 
" to work all things after the counsel of his 
own Will." 

But, Grace is frequently spoken of in sacred 
writ as it is in us — or, in those who are said to 
be the Children of the living God by adoption 
and grace : and then, it is used to signify the 
spiritual endowments, qualities, and habits, by 
which they are discriminated from those, who 



60 

are destitute of that Grace. Thus, we hear and 
read of being in a State of grace ; and all the 
christian Virtues are denominated the Graces 
of the holy Spirit ; because, they are implanted 
in the Heart by his efficacious agency : by the 
same agency indeed we must, if ever, be " trans- 
formed by the renewing of our mind into the 
image of God.'* 

Could any thing be strange, to those, who 
have seen much of this World of absurdities 
and contradictions, nothing could be more 
strange than to meet with so many, who treat 
these operations of divine Grace as visionary 
and enthusiastic. Not so, our Church : for, 
we are reminded of them and directed to pray 
for them in all her devotional Services: and, 
according to her instructions, no manner of 
thing that is holy, just, and good, can be done 
without them. In fact, there is not one of her 
Prayers or Collects, which does not imply their 
absolute necessity for the avoidance of every 
thing , that is evil, and for the performance of 
every thing that is right. Upon this ground, 
I may safely argue, that her Religion is a Reli- 
gion of Grace. 

It is also a Religion of Faith. No greater 
stress is laid in the Word of Revelation upon 



61 

any christian Grace than upon Faith. Be as- 
sured of it, therefore, that whenever any 
Preacher can speak lightly of it, or fail to press 
it as a matter of the first importance, he is very 
ill qualified for his office — and can, in truth, 
know nothing of its true nature, use, or worth. 
In what estimate it was held by the illustrious 
Compilers of our Articles and Homilies, you 
may readily infer from what I shall now sub- 
join. 

In the article, which treats of the Justification 
of Man, they affirm, that " we are accounted 
righteous before God, only for the Merit of our 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by Faith; and 
not for our own Works or Deservings. Where- 
fore, that we are justified by Faith only, is a 
most wholesome doctrine and very full of com- 
fort — as is more largely expressed in the Homily 
of Justification/* — This you may pronounce a 
solifidian doctrine ; no matter ; thus the Article 
stands : but, let us hear the Homily to which 
it may be presumed to refer. What does that 
say? 

It says, that " there are three things which 
must go together in our Justification : upon 
God's part, his great Mercy and Grace ; upon 
Christ's part, the satisfaction of God's Justice, 



62 

or the price of our Redemption by the offering 
of his Body and the shedding of his Blood — 
with fulfilling of the Law perfectly ; and, upon 
our part, true and lively faith in the merits of 
Jesus Christ — which yet is not ours, but by 
God's working in us. So that, in our Justifica- 
tion, there is not only God's Mercy and Grace, 
but also the Justice, or the Righteousness of 
God — which consisteth in paying our Ransom 
and fulfilling the Law, So that the Grace of 
God doth not shut out the Justice of God in 
our Justification, but only, the Justice, or 
Righteousness of Man : and, therefore, St. Paul 
declareth nothing in the behalf of Man con- 
cerning Justification but only a true and lively 
Faith ; which nevertheless is the Gift of God. 
For our Justification doth come freely, of the 
mere Mercy of God : for that Christ is now the 
Righteousness of all them that truly believe in 
Him. He, for them, paid their Ransom by his 
death. He, for them, fulfilled the Law in his 
life. So that now, in him and by him, every 
true Christian may be called a Fulfiller of the 
Law. Rom. iii. 19—28. iv. 4—8. v. 15—21. 
vi. 23. ix. 30—33. x. 1 — 17. Ephes. ii. 8, 9, 

" This saying— that we be justified by Faith 
only, freely, and without works,— doth not 
mean that we should do no good Works, but 



63 

is spoken of clearly to take away all merit of 
our works and as being unable to deserve our 
Justification at God's hand ; and thereby most 
plainly to express the weakness of Man and the 
goodness of God — the imperfection of our Works 
and the most abundant Grace of our Saviour; 
and therefore wholly to ascribe the merit of our 
Justification to Christ only. This Faith is the 
strong Rock and Foundation of the christian; 
this Doctrine all ancient Authors of Christ's 
Church do approve ; this Doctrine setteth forth 
and advanceth the true glory of Christ and 
beateth down the vain-glory of Man : this 
whosoever denieth is not to be accounted a 
christian Man, nor for a Setter-forth of Christ's 
glory — but, for an Adversary to Christ and his 
Gospel, and for a setter-forth of Men's vain- 
glory/' 

But when our Church so resolutely and fully 
asserts this fundamental doctrine of Christianity, 
it is not with any unfriendly eye to the interests 
of Piety and virtue : for, in her twelfth Article, 
she maintains, that, " Albeit that good Works, 
which are the fruits of Faith, and follow after 
Justification, cannot put away our Sins and 
endure the severity of God's Judgment, yet are 
they' pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, 
and do spring out necessarily of a true and 



64 

lively Faith: insomuch that by them a lively 
Faith may be as evidently known as a Tree dis- 
cerned by the fruit." 

This then is what I intend, when I assert 
that the Religion of our Church is a Religion of 
Faith. It is also a Religion of Hope. It holds 
out to us an Anchor for the Soul, sure and sted- 
fast, amidst all the tempestuous storms in which 
we may be tossed in this State of Affliction and 
Conflict — in the prospect of an approaching 
Death and Judgment— and, with which, we may 
securely launch into the boundless ocean of 
Eternity itself. 

There is a Hope, indeed, too common among 
us; a Hope, which, alas! we are sadly and 
aw T fully propense to indulge — but which, when 
it is closely scrutinized, will prove nothing more 
than a vain illusion — nothing better than awful 
Presumption. A Hope, whose Base is only a 
dreaming imagination : against which, therefore, 
we cannot be too frequently cautioned or too 
seriously warned. The descriptive imagery, by 
which such a delusive Hope is pointed out to 
us in the Wisdom of Solomon, is calculated to 
excite attention, when it is said, " The Hope 
of the ungodly is like dust that is blown away 
with the wind ; like a thin froth that is driven 



65 



away with the storm ; like as the smoke which 
is dispersed here and there with the tempest, 
and passeth away as the remembrance of a Guest 
which tarrieth but for a day. 

True it is, there is a still more specious kind 
of Hope than that of the ungodly ; but, by no 
means less dangerous on that account ; though 
it is usually as confident as it is deceptive ; 
which can only serve to render the fatal dis- 
appointment, in which it is likely to terminate, 
the more bitter and tremendous : and what is 
that ? It is, the hope of the self-righteous ; who 
are flattering themselves with the assurance of 
a seat in the Mansions of future and endless 
Felicity upon the footing of their own Piety, 
Virtue, and Morality. Forgetting, that the very 
best of us are but miserable Sinners and un- 
profitable Servants, they fancy that their Good- 
ness is of such excellence, as to lay a sort of 
claim for their admission into the everlasting 
kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
What will be their surprise and anguish, to find 
the Gate of heaven for ever shut against them ! 

How different from all this is the Hope, 
which our Church encourages us to entertain 
For, does she not teach us to supplicate the 
Giver of every good and perfect gift, to " grant 

F 



66 

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the 
blessed Hope of everlasting life, which he has 
given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ ? does she 
not teach us, that all christian Hope leans only 
upon his heavenly Grace, and is founded in the 
inexhaustible Love of God in the Redemption 
of the world by Jesus Christ r who is expressly 
said to be our Hope, as well as our Prophet, 
our Priest, and our King : and this indeed is 
the only Hope, which is full of immortality, and 
of which we shall never be ashamed. 

It must not be forgotten, however, that the 
Religion, which our Church invariably urges 
on our regard, is a Religion of Charity. But, 
what does she understand by Charity? She 
shall speak for herself, in an extract or two from 
one of her Homilies on that very topic. 

" Of all things that are good to be taught to 
christian people, there is nothing more neces- 
sary to be spoken of than, Charity ; as well for 
that all manner of Works of righteousness be 
contained in it, as also that the decay thereof 
is the ruin of the World, the banishment of 
Virtue, and the cause of Vice. Therefore, you 
shall hear now a true and plain description 
of Charity— not of Men's imagination, but, of 
the very words of Jesus Christ. 



67 

" Charity is, to love God with all our heart, 
and mind, and soul, and strength : that is to 
say, that our Heart, Mind, and Study be set to 
believe his Word, to trust in him, and to love 
him above all other things that we love best ; 
and that our Life be given to his service. This 
is the first and principal part of Charity ; but, 
it is not the whole : for, Charity is also to love 
every man, friend or foe — and whatsoever cause 
be given to the contrary : and, if we do other- 
wise, we be no better than Pharisees, Publicans, 
and Heathens. Matt. v. 43—48. Eph. v. 31, 
32. vi. 1, 2. Col. iii. 12, 13. 

" The perverse nature of Man, corrupt with 
sin, and destitute of God^s word and grace, 
thinketh it against all reason that a man should 
love his Enemy, and hath many persuasions 
which bring him to the contrary : against all 
which reasons we ought as well to set the 
teaching, as the living, of our Saviour Christ — 
who, loving us when we were Enemies, doth 
teach us to love our enemies. Therefore, we be 
no members of him, if we do not follow him, 
" who hath left us an Example that we should 
follow his steps. " 

" Thus it is declared unto }^ou what true 
Charity or christian Love is — so plainly, that 

f 2 



68 

no man need to be deceived : and, if we thus 
direct our life by christian Love, and Charity, 
then are we very members of Christ, and, after 
the short time of this mortal life, we shall have 
with Him everlasting life in Heaven." 

With what peculiar propriety and excellence 
then does our Church instruct us, in one of her 
most devout and beuatiful Collects, to look up 
to the God of all Grace, and to say, 

" O Lord, who hast taught us that all our 
doings without Charity are nothing worth, send 
thy holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that 
most excellent gift of Charity, the very bond 
of peace and of all virtues ; without which, 
whosoever liveth is counted dead before Thee. 
Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ's 
sake. Amen." 

I might seize so favourable an occasion to 
comment here a little on the thirteenth chapter 
of St. Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians ; 
but I must deny myself that pleasure, and 
hasten to shew, that the Religion, which the 
national Church proposes to our cordial ac- 
ceptance, is a Religion of Salvation. Were it 
otherwise, indeed, it would be scarcely worth 
notice: for, whatever alluring enchantments 



69 

there may be in the things of this world — call 
them what you please, Riches, Pleasure, or 
Honour — the first Question, which every ra- 
tional and immortal Being should ask himself, 
is this — " What shall I do to be saved?" A 
Religion, which cannot answer this Question, 
is not the Religion of the Bible ; which is ex- 
pressly said to be " The Word of Salvation" — 
as proclaiming to us the great, the free, the 
eternal Salvation, which is provided for lost 
Mankind in Christ Jesus. 

Accordingly, we have a Homily which treats 
of this very thing ; not indeed in a Style clas- 
sically elegant or adapted to the squeamish taste 
of a fastidious critic — but, which is far better, 
level to every Capacity. It is worthy to be 
remarked here, that if you will compare the 
substance of that Homily with the 'Title it 
bears, you will perceive, that the Compilers of 
the Homilies considered Justification and Sal- 
vation as inclusive of each other, and significant 
of one and the same thing; for, that we are 
justified and saved exactly in the same way — 
freely, by Grace, through Faith. 

' Now then, this Religion of Grace, Faith, 
Hope, Charity, and Salvation, every true 
Churchman is supposed both heartily and con- 



70 

scientiously to embrace. If he neither under- 
stands it, nor receives it, how can he be a true 
Churchman? Some excuse may indeed be made 
for him, if, in any of our Pulpits there should 
be a prevailing departure from that Religion, 
we are bound distinctly and perspicuously to 
enforce. In such a case, the eventual issue 
may be more injurious to our Establishment 
than I am willing to predict. A learned Prelate 
of the last Century has called upon us, in a 
very serious tone, to recollect the fate of the 
seven churches in Asia, where scarce a vestige 
of genuine Christianity is now to be traced. 

Should it be said, " but, how came it to pass, 
that our national Church, plunged as it once 
was in the very dregs of Popery, should ever 
have imbibed these pure and correct ideas of 
Religion ? For this, no thanks can ever be due 
to the church of Rome. " Come out of her 
my people/' said the celestial Voice, " lest ye 
partake of her plagues and drink of the wine 
of the wrath of God, which shall be poured out 
without mixture." It was by deserting that 
Standard, which the Father of lies had erected, 
and betaking herself to " The Scriptures of 
Truth," that she made her happy escape from 
those regions of blindness, delusion, and error: 
happy, though menaced with the sanguinary 



71 

Anathemas of a tyrannical Hierarchy, or the 
more horrible tortures of a diabolical Inqui- 
sition. 

From whence then, I repeat it, has our 
Church derived all these peculiar, sublime, and 
most interesting ideas of Religion ? Clearly, not 
from the midnight darkness of Popery ; nor 
from, what has been called the light of Reason, 
Learning, or Philosophy; but, from the infinitely 
superior Light of divine Revelation : and yet, 
this glorious Luminary did the papal Antichrist 
labour for many successive centuries to conceal 
from its besotted adherents, and to substitute 
in its place " lying Wonders and all Deceiv- 
ableness of unrighteousness.^ Instead of suf- 
fering them to be guided by that Sun of truth 
and righteousness, they were beguiled and 
hoodwinked by all the arts and tricks of Je- 
suitical Priestcraft, and sunk in all the mire and 
filth of idolatrous superstition and ceremonial 
mummery. 

At last, however, the moment arrived, when 
a flood of Illumination was to burst upon our 
Protestant Reformers from the holy Scriptures ; 
tind, it may be classed among the chief excel- 
lencies of our Ritual, that so large a quantity 
of these treasures of heavenly Wisdom is inter- 



mixed in the public services of the Church. 
Deeply sensible of the unspeakable value of 
these treasures, the first of our Homilies con- 
tains an Exhortation to the reading of the holy 
Scriptures ; from which the following selection 
may not be without its use. 

" Unto a christian man," says this Homily, 
" there can be nothing more necessary or pro- 
fitable than the knowledge of the holy Scrip- 
ture ; forasmuch as in it is contained God's true 
Word — setting forth his Glory and also Man's 
duty: and there is no truth or doctrine neces- 
sary for our Justification and everlasting Sal- 
vation, but what may be drawn out of that 
Fountain. Therefore, as many as be desirous 
to enter into the right and perfect way to God 
must apply their Minds to know holy Scripture ; 
without the which they can neither sufficiently 
know God and his Will, neither their office nor 
dutv. 

V 

I 

" Let us then diligently search for the Well 
of life in the books of the old and new Testament, 
and not run to the stinking puddles of men's 
Traditions — devised by men's imaginations — 
for our Justification and Salvation. For, in holy 
Scripture is fully contained what we ought to 
believe — what we ought to love — what we 



73 



ought to do— and what we ought to look for at 
God's hands. These books therefore ought 
be much in our eyes, much in our ears, much 
in our mouths, but, most of all, in our Hearts. 
The words of holy Scripture may be called the 
words of everlasting Life ; for, they be God's 
instrument ordained for the same purpose. 

" By this Word of God we shall be judged. 
Christ calleth him a wise Builder, who buildeth 
on this Word. This Word, whosoever is diligent 
to read, and to print on his heart what he 
readeth, the great affection to the transitory 
things of this world will be minished in him, 
and the great desire of heavenly things, that 
be therein promised of God, shall increase in 
him : and, moreover, the effect and virtue of 
God's word is, to illuminate the ignorant, and 
to give more light to them that faithfully search 
it: not that in reading God's word he always 
most profiteth that is most ready in turning of 
the book, but he, that is most turned into it; 
that is, most inspired with the holy Ghost — 
most in his Heart and Life changed and altered 
into that which he readeth. And, to be short, 
there is nothing that more maintaineth godliness 
of the Mind, and driveth away ungodliness, 
than doth the continued hearing and reading of 
God's word ; if it be joined with a good affec- 

3 



74 

tion to know and follow his Will: for, without 
a single Eye, a pure Intent, and a good Mind, 
nothing is allowed for good before God: and, 
on the other side, nothing more darkeneth 
Christ and the glory of God, nor bringeth in 
more blindness and all kind of vices, than doth 
the ignorance of God's word." 

Thus far the Protestant Founders of our ec- 
clesiastical Establishment and the Homily on 
reading Scripture : to all which, the profane 
Bulls, which have been recently issued from 
the court of Rome, have the consummate ef- 
frontery to give the lie direct ; charging their 
wretched Dupes not to consult the Scriptures ; 
not to follow their Light ; not to drink the 
living waters of this Fountain ; not to build on 
this Foundation ! Can you imagine a higher 
degree of wickedness than this ? perpetrated too, 
not in a corner, but in open day — and, by One, 
who has the blasphemy to style himself, in an 
Age so enlightened as this, " The Vicar of 
God/" If this is not " after the working of 
Satan," as the Bible expresses it, what is ? 

Is it possible then, that, after having given so 
much encouragement to the Papal System, as, 
in my private judgment, has already provoked 
every remarkable inflictive Visitation, which, 



75 

for the last thirty years has befallen our country, 
it shall be in contemplation to proceed in the 
same line ? Can it be believed, that the great 
Senate of our Land will endanger the purity of 
our Religion and the principles of our Protestant 
Constitution, for the sake of any political Con- 
siderations ? What, in that case, is to be ex- 
pected, but that the God of Providence will 
convert the very advantages they promise them- 
selves into curses, and blast their flattering ex- 
pectations with ultimate Ruin, both in Church 
and State? Who can forget the sad Catastrophe 
of the fourth Henry of France ? He renounced 
Protestantism — embraced Popery — and, by the 
righteous permission of Heaven, was rewarded 
for it with Assassination. 

Surely, we have a right to expect from those, 
who are raised to the exalted station of Senators 
of the Realm, that sort of Wisdom, which is 
the result of Experience and a correct know- 
ledge of History. Must we not then be out of 
measure astonished to find a single Voice among 
them — unless it be that of a Papist in disguise — 
which can carry with it the smallest appear- 
ance of favour towards " The Man of Sin — The 
Son of Perdition — The Mystery of Iniquity !" 
Is it in the power of the most fertile Fancy, to 
conceive a Composition more repulsive than this 



76 

'to Reason and to Piety ? All History will bear 
witness of what they ought to be well acquainted 
with — that, to accomplish its end, the Papal 
Abomination has never yet hesitated at False- 
hood, Perjury, Murders, Assassinations, Poison- 
ing, Massacres, and every thing else, at which 
Humanity can either shudder, or be petrified. 
It is a merciful kindness, not to suffer it to 
have the Power' to commit these ferocious and 
savage atrocities. " To the Deity, " said a 
celebrated orator of our own times, " must be 
left the province of infinite perfection — who 
hurls a Comet out of its course, and enables it 
to endure the solar heat, and the pitchy darkness 
of the chilly night ; while, to us poor, weak, 
and incapable mortals, there is no Rule of con- 
duct so safe in these matters, as Experience.'' 
But, those there are, who are either too inflated 
or too stubborn to take lessons of Prudence and 
Caution even from that sage Instructor. 

A writer there was, who, for solid Under- 
standing, correct Judgment, and comprehensive 
Views — actuated too by the noblest motives — 
has perhaps no Superior, in those respects, in 
either house of Parliament — that sounded a 
similar alarm about twenty years ago. He too 
foresaw the no less perilous than probable evils, 
which might await the Protestant Constitution, 



77 

from the encouragement then given to Popery. 
As I scribble not for fame or pecuniary interest, 
but for patriotic utility, I will borrow his lan- 
guage on that occasion. His language of un- 
rivalled pith and point was this — 

" Have we forgotten the History of the Re- 
formation ? Is ' the Preservative against Popery' 
buried in oblivion and unmerited neglect? Do 
we remember Mede and Chilling worth, and 
Hooker, and Tillotson, and Hoadley, and Sher- 
lock ? Can we pass by the phalanx of States- 
men, and Bishops, and Lawyers, who stood forth 
in 1688 ? Let us only advert to the Principles 
on which we separated from that idolatrous and 
intolerant Power. Our Fathers obeyed the 
warning Voice, and left her corrupt Communion, 
when she had risen to the zenith of her glory ; 
and we have hitherto escaped the plagues by 
which she is now tormented. 

" It is a matter of some surprise and concern 
to read the list of the almost incredible number 
of little books and tracts at the smallest prices, 
published and to be published, calculated for 
the general dissemination of POPERY in these 
Realms. I understand them well. They know 
their hour- — their Protectors of noble rank — 
their opportunities, their advantages, their Re- 



78 

venues from the State. The papal Genius never 
sleeps — no, not for a moment ; but, directs, and 
animates, and acts, uniformly and constantly, 
at home and abroad, in cities, in towns, in vil- 
lages; it takes aid from ability and from stu- 
pidity, from above and from beneath. I have, 
therefore, and it is an Englishman's duty to 
have, a watchful eye upon the insinuating and 
domineering spirit of the Romish Church. I 
have no opinion of the sincerity of their at- 
tachment to us, or of their gratitude for our 
favours. I insist upon it, that they regard Tliem- 
selves as the original and rightful Inheritors of 
our Land. 

i" I am not speaking," says he, " to those, 
who are indifferent to all Religion — but, to those, 
who, from their station, political or sacred, 
should understand the importance of the 
Cause, the interests of Christianity and its 
purity, the Evidence of History, the nature of 
the essential and unaltered spirit of the papal 
Priesthood, and their subtilty and peculiar arts, 
by persuasion or by terror, over weak eon- 
sciences. I am speaking to the Governors of 
Great Britain, to the Ministers of the Crown, 
who should guard, and, I trust, will guard, 
against the revival of the Romish Church now 
working in secret. What is said to us all, is 



79 

said at this hour to Ministers and Rulers of the 
State with a more sacred emphasis, ' Watch 
—for ye know not when the Hour of destruction 
cometh/ 

" It was the original Constitution and Pur- 
pose of the established Church to discounte- 
nance and extinguish the superstitious Doc- 
trines of that Antichrist~?together with their 
political and ecclesiastical Tenets. Whatever 
qualified Toleration they may grant to other 
persuasions, should they not defend and secure 
their own ? This is Prudence — this is Policy — 
this is to remember the beginning and progress 
of great Events. 

" I have been reminded, indeed, that though 
I give all my goods to feed the poor, and have 
not Charity, it profiteth me nothing. " True. 
But, is not C harity a principle of general safety, of 
kindness, of active benevolence, of discernment, 
of moderation, and of guarded virtue ? It ori- 
ginated from Him, who commanded his dis- 
ciples to join the Wisdom of the Serpent with 
the Innocence of the Dove. I love moderation 
as much as the most designing Patriot of the 
day ; but, indifference to the public form of 
Religion is the first step to its neglect, and to 
its consequent abolition. I cannot think it a 



80 

mark of Intolerance, when 1 deprecate the re- 
vival of the most superstitious corruption of 
Christianity in England. There is an enthu- 
siasm in the Profession of it, which I know 
never forsakes them. It is active, where its in- 
fluence can hardly be supposed. I would carry 
Charity with me in my heart and in my hand — 
but, I know that Charity is and must be con- 
sistent with the love of my Country, and to her 
Rights civil and religious. If I am wrong, I 
fear, I must continue so. I have yet seen no 
argument to shake my conviction." 

To the whole of this Quotation I give my 
unfeigned assent and consent ; but, I must re- 
turn to the national Church. If the representa- 
tion I have given of her Creed, her Worship, 
and her Religion, be impartial and just, there 
can be no moral occasion to separate from her 
Communion : and, for this plain reason — be- 
cause, to search for a better Creed — a superior 
Mode of worship — or a more scriptural Reli- 
gion — would be hopeless and vain. When I 
say this, it is with no design to assail the opi- 
nions of others— much less, to censure them— 
but only, to assert my own. Very confidently 
then do I affirm, that, in the public Services of 
our Communion, we are furnished with all the 
Means of Grace, which are instrumentally pro- 



81 

ductive of the Faith of God's elect— of Re^ 
pentance unto life— and of every branch of that 
Holiness, which is absolutely necessary to the 
christian Character. Should it, therefore, be in 
any danger — as some have predicted—of ap* 
proaching dissolution, that danger cannot pos-* 
sibly arise from any deficiency in either of these 
particulars relative to our Salvation* 

All hail then, the immortal Memory and La- 
bours of a Cranmer, a Ridley, a Jewell, a Hall, 
a Stillingfleet, a Burnet, a Hurd, a Halifax, with 
many other Stars of the first magnitude^ that 
have shone in our ecclesiastical Hemisphere ; 
Characters of high renown ! But, to what pur- 
pose all their Labours of piety and erudition to 
found a protestant Church on the ruin of Anti- 
christ, if all their toils are to be thrown in their 
faces, by giving sanction to " The Mother of 
Abominations ?" And, by whom^ and by what ? 
Let me invoke the aid of a figure in Rhetoric 
here— lest, in saying any thing in reply, I be 
tempted to say too much. Thus much, how- 
ever, I will say—" let us take care that we are 
not fooled out of our Understanding-Hoofed out 
of our Security-* and fooled out of our Hap- 
piness ; lest, when we have lost every national 
blessing beyond recovery ^ we look around at 
each other in a stupid despair, clashing our 

G 



82 



chains, and unable to shake them off, and ask, 
" How has all this been brought about?" For, 
whether we listen to the dictates of Reason or 
Religion, it is plainly our Interest^ as well as 
our Duty — while yet we may — to strive to sup- 
port that Constitution in Church and State, 
which has hitherto been able to build us up, 
and to give us a Pre-eminence among all those, 
who have been strengthened by Policy, or sanc- 
tified by Revelation. " 

To the various Objections, which have been 
so repeatedly urged against our Protestant Com- 
munion, and which have been so often and so 
completely answered, it would be superfluous 
and tiresome to add any thing by way of re- 
futation. It may not, however, be without its 
use, to take notice of a Custom or two, which 
obtains among us, and which some have sup- 
posed to savour very much of Popery. Which 
be they? The Custom of crossing in the bap- 
tismal service, and of bowing at the name of 
Jesus in the public recital of the Apostles' 
Creed. 

Now then, the defence I would humbly set 
up for both these practices — though by no 
means requisite— is, the christian piety of their 
import. The very thing signified, when duly 



83 

regarded— as it certainly ought to be— justifies 
the outward and visible sign. Observe, cri- 
tically, how it is expressed in both cases. 

" We receive this Child into the congregation 
of Christ's flock, and do sign him with the sign 
of the Cross; in token that hereafter he shall 
not be ashamed to confess the Faith of Christ 
crucified, and manfully to fight under his ban- 
ner against the World, the Flesh, and the Devil, 
and to continue Christ's faithful Soldier and 
Servant unto his life's end/' 

Thus, for the Cross ; now, for the bowing. 
" When, in the time of divine Service, the Lord 
Jesus shall be mentioned, due and lowly re- 
verence shall be made by all persons present ; 
testifying, by these outward ceremonies and ges- 
tures, their inward Humility, christian Resolu- 
tion, and due Acknowledgment that the Lord 
Jesus Christ, the true eternal Son of God, is 
the only Saviour of the world, in whom alone 
are all the Mercies, Graces, and Promises, of 
God to Mankind, for this life and the life to 
come, fully and wholly comprised." 

Suppose we then, without the least eye to 
controversy, but, merely for the sake of amicable 
statement, that any of our pious, evangelical 
G 2 



84 

Dissenters were to meet with such Churchmen ; 
Characters, that were not ashamed to confess 
the Faith of a crucified Redeemer— that were 
actually fighting, as good Soldiers of Jesus 
Christ, under the Captain of our Salvation, 
against the World, the Flesh, and the Devil— 
and who did cordially believe in Him as the 
only Saviour, in whom all the Mercies, Graces, 
and Promises of God are wholly comprised ; 
supposing, I say, any of our truly christian Dis- 
senters should meet with such excellent Cha- 
racters in our Communion — is it to be ima- 
gined, that they would be so illiberal, or so 
unamiable, as to object to them, because they 
had received the sign of the Cross at their Bap- 
tism, or, because they had been accustomed to 
bow at the name of Jesus ? I will not suffer 
myself to entertain so unworthy a suspicion of 
any of them. Prejudices we all have, and, in 
the present state of Society, they are perhaps 
unavoidable— but, while they affect not true 
Religion and Virtue, or the general Happiness, 
it must be owing either to great mental weak- 
ness or a querulous temper, if we cannot con- 
form ourselves to the admired Rule laid down 
by a Stoic philosopher—" Bear, and Forbear ;" 
and, " let brotherly Love continue." 

After all— methinks I hear a person whisper- 



85 

ing, " if the account I have given of the vital and 
substantial parts of the national Church be in- 
deed just and impartial — if it be so very scrip- 
tural in its Creed, Liturgy, and Homilies, as 
" to commend itself to every man^s Conscience 
in the sight of God" — how comes it to pass, 
that the Secession from it, within the last fifty 
years has increased, is increasing, and is not 
likely, if we may judge from present appear- 
ances, to be diminished?" In solving a difficulty, 
allusive to a sorrowful Fact, which cannot be 
denied, and without staying to controvert mi- 
nute particulars with those, who are disposed to 
cavil or find fault, it will be more generous in 
me, to inquire, whether we may not have 
given occasion to a considerable part of this sad 
Separation ; whether too many of those, who 
would be thought the most strenuous Advocates 
for the Establishment, may not have done it an 
almost irreparable Injury. 

In submitting my own sentiments on this 
subject, I flatter myself that it will not be so 
much as surmised that I can aim at any thing, 
in what I shall now offer, but what is intended 
— however it may fail — to advance the interests 
of the Communion of which I have been so 
long a Minister, 



86 

To those then, who have not been friendly to 
our Church, it has been matter of no little gra- 
tification — and to those who have, of great con- 
cern—that so many among us have been known 
to preach, publish, and even defend, Principles 
in diametrical opposition to the Articles we are 
supposed in foro conscientiae to have subscribed. 
This has been demonstrated in numerous works 
that have issued from the Press ; but, in none 
more clearly, temperately, and judiciously, than 
in one bearing the title of, " The True Church- 
man :" a book, which one of the most learned 
Ornaments of the episcopal Bench is known to 
have pronounced, unanswerable* 

Loud complaints have been made again — and 
not without Cause — of the slovenly manner in 
which our devotional service is sometimes per- 
formed, by such as cannot read intelligibly, much 
less impressively ; of the flimsy and concise 
Essays, instead of sound and solid Discourses 
on religious topics, that are frequently delivered 
from our Pulpits; and, of the perfect indifference 
that is too generally shewn to the great Doctrines 
of Christianity, insisted on in our Articles and 
Homilies. Some, indeed, have gone so far, as 
to play into the hands of Deists and Infidels, 
by treating al} the Doctrines of the christian 



- 87 

Revelation with entire neglect— as so many 
speculative Notions, which have nothing to do 
with the practice of Piety ; whereas, if we give 
any credit to " The Oracles of God," they are, 
according to the most correct and philosophical 
definition of the term, its Essence — or, that, 
without which it cannot be christian Piety at 
all. 

This, I know to be one complex reason, why 
our Church has been deserted, and, in many 
instances, most unwillingly, and that other 
places of worship have been erected in different 
parts of the kingdom. In a single year only, 
almost one hundred have been raised ! 

Another reason of this Separation is, the 
shameful inattention that has been long shewn 
to the accommodation of the poorer ranks of 
the Community : as if they had not Souls to 
be saved as well as the rich — or, as if they were 
not of equal value : and indeed, were they pre- 
sent in our Churches, it has been said, " how 
couid their unlettered minds comprehend the 
ingenious, elegant, and elaborate style of preach- 
ing, which too often obtains among us ?" " To 
the Poor the Gospel is preached," said our 
blessed Saviour: but, to what purpose, if it be 
preached in a language which they cannot un- 



88 

derstand ? The holy Scriptures speak of a 
common Salvation : should not that common 
Salvation be explained to the common People 
in a style that is level to every common Capa- 
city ? What I must contend, is, that common 
Sense and common Honesty demand this of 
every public Teacher. Otherwise, he is se- 
riously trifling with his Hearers in the Name 
and in the Temple of God himself. What an 
awful Thought ! and, how will he answer it to 
*' the great Shepherd and Bishop of Souls" at 
his second appearing to judge the world ? 

It is no slight occasion of Offence, which too 
many of our Church have given to more than 
thousands of the most pious and excellent 
of the earth, by their unjustifiable and even 
rancorous opposition to " the British and Fo- 
reign Bible Society :" a Society, which, while 
it is its own best defence, not the Eloquence of 
an A polios could exalt too highly, nor the 
Zeal of a Paul promote more justly than it 
merits, Far be it from my vanity, to dream, 
that, with Talents so feeble, I can add any 
thing to the Arguments and Oratory with 
which it has been supported ; but, you will not 
deny me the pleasure of lisping my accents in 
favour of the glorious, godlike Cause to which 
it is devoted, 



89 

Fertile as this World of sorrow and of woe is, 
in other sources of lamentation, who, that loves 
our Church, can help deploring what I shall 
now insert from a recent Publication— which, 
from the estimation of the Writer, will be read 
throughout the Realm. In avowing his warm 
and decided admiration of the Church of Eng- 
land he had said, " I know, that, as a human 
Institution, she can have no just pretensions to 
infallibility or perfection : but, I believe, that, 
in respect both to her principles and her insti- 
tutions, her blemishes compared with her ex- 
cellencies are like spots on the face of the Sun : 
they neither disfigure her appearance — nor di- 
minish her lustre — nor impair her usefulness." 
He then adds, " I cannot however regard the 
opposition she has made to ' the British and 
Foreign Bible Society' without sensibly feeling 
that every step she has taken in this disastrous 
and inauspicious path is in a direction the very 
contrary to that elevation of honour to which 
my wishes would anxiously conduct her. Do 
her Members, that have been thus employed, 
reflect on the spectacle she now exhibits in the 
sight — or the contrast which she now presents 
to the conduct — of the other Protestant churches 
of Europe ? Does she refuse to raise her stand- 
ard in this holy Crusade against infidelity, su- 
perstition, and idolatry ? What, I ask, must be 

1 



90 

the feelings of the Protestant churches respect- 
ing her at such an exhibition ? Must they not 
be ready to conclude that she has renounced 
her Principles — has relinquished her Professions 
— and has voluntarily descended from that lofty 
eminence, which she has so long occupied 
among the churches of Christ? Surely, it will 
be as difficult to obviate this conclusion, as it 
will be painful to admit it. Her Friends may 
deeply lament this stain on her Glory ; but, 
how can they wipe it away ? If I rejoice at 
the honour to which I see my Country exalted, 
I cannot but deplore the dishonour which thus 
attaches to tny Church" 

This Dishonour is by no means lessened by 
the unwarrantable and hostile resistance, which 
has been lately shewn to 6 the Church Mis- 
sionary Society/ Whose sublime and most 
beneficent Plan it is, to send ministering La- 
bourers, from our own Church, into every na- 
tion under heaven, to proclaim the glad tidings 
of Salvation. This is their noble Plan : and 
would you suppose it possible that one christian 
Voice could ever have been raised against it ? 
Had a Heathen stepped forward with such an 
ignominious Protest, it could only have proved 
that he was indeed a Heathen. Had a Dis- 
senter expressed his inhumanity by such a pro*- 



91 

cedure, who would not have pronounced him 
a Barbarian ? But, to see a Churchman vo- 
lunteer in such a Cause, we start — and would 
willingly throw a Veil of concealment over 
such a transaction. It is however too public, 
and cannot be hid. 

This untoward Occurrence, so very repugnant 
to the true spirit and character of our Church, 
has excited the pious warmth of another Writer 
of distinguished fame, and an exemplary Or- 
nament of our ecclesiastical Communion. In 
his defence of " the Church Missionary So- 
ciety" against the preposterous Objections of 
its Opponents, he asks, " what is there so holy, 
what so arduous, what so elevated, as the work 
of disseminating the most stupendous blessings 
among nations debased by vice and supersti- 
tion — nations, lost to Heaven and themselves, 
" without hope and without God in the world ?" 
We boast of our benevolence and humanity • 
but, what exercise of benevolence or huma- 
nity is worthy to be compared to that of res- 
cuing our Fellow-men from ignorance and 
cruelty, from lust and misery ; of conveying to 
them the knowledge of a crucified Redeemer, 
and telling them that " God is Love?" We 
talk of heroism ; but what is so heroic, as to 
<mit the comforts of our native Land, and 



92 

cheerfully to encounter the dangers of a foreign 
Clime, and all the labours and sufferings inci- 
dental to Missionary undertakings? Surely, 
there treads not on this earth a Man so truly 
magnanimous, as the faithful Missionary." Is 
it then decorous in any Clergyman of our Es- 
tablishment to damp such exertions of christian 
Benevolence, Humanity, and Courage ? Will 
not our dissenting Brethren exclaim — to use the 
gentlest terms — " fie upon it, fie upon it." 

" The Conversion of the Heathen," says this 
animated and zealous Writer, " is the exclusive 
Object of this Society, and the only one in the 
Church of England. It is the first attempt in 
our times to assist in redeeming the Church 
from the reproach of neglect and indifference to 
the Heathen world ; and, it is lamentable to 
reflect, that this first attempt should be met 
with prejudice, misrepresentation, and obloquy" 
— and, which is rather extraordinary, from one 
of the sacred Order. Let us hope however that 
such instances are very rare ; especially as, in 
our own Liturgy, we are continually praying to 
Heaven " for mercy on all Jews, Turks, Infi- 
dels, and Heretics, and that his saving health 
may be known among all nations." What ! 
and shall we do nothing that may be in our 
power to propagate the knowledge of Salvation 



93 

through all the earth, or discourage and revile 
those who do ? Did we wish to put weapons 
in the hands of those, who know how to make 
use of them against us, could we do it more 
effectually ? Such a conduct seems to me to 
betray an equal defect of sound judgment and 
christian Charity. 

Another mischievous practice, which has 
long obtained among us, and which has been 
noticed as almost peculiar to the Members of 
our Communion, is, that when any of our 
Clergy are remarkable for their conscientiousness, 
diligence, and earnestness, in preaching the Doc- 
trines and recommending the Religion of the 
Church to which they belong ; when they are 
eminent for their activity and energy in the 
discharge of their parochial Duties, and in pro- 
moting every good Work ; it is scarcely possible 
for them to escape the charge of Enthusiasm — 
Fanaticism — and Hypocrisy ; nay, the more 
evangelical they are in their public Ministrations, 
the more vehemently they are accused ; as if, 
by " doing the work of an Evangelist" they 
had perpetrated some enormous crime! Our 
dissenting Brethren are not ignorant of all this, 
and they stand amazed at it ! Our Protestant 
Reformers, were thev to rise from the dead, 
would be equally so. 



94 

Then again, if any private Individual, all 
whose thoughts and talents, time and passions, 
had been entirely sacrificed to the transitory 
pursuits, possessions, and enjoyments of this 
world — if, after having wasted his days in 
Avarice, Sensuality, or Profaneness — to the 
total neglect of " The one thing needful^ — 
should he, by any of the Means of Grace be 
awakened to a penitential sense of the guilt and 
danger of his State — should he be " renewed in 
the Spirit of his Mind" — should he become a 
pious, devout, and heavenly Character — and, 
thus transformed by almighty Power, should he 
show forth the praises of him " who hath called 
him out of darkness into his marvellous light ;" 
what then ? Will he not become, as he certainly 
ought to be, an object of general approbation 
and esteem? So far from it 3 that he will be im- 
mediately branded, by the unrighteous and the 
self-righteous, with the name of a Methodist! 
And what do they mean by a Methodist P Every 
thing that they choose to dislike and hate ; just 
as the Jews did our Saviour, when they said 
" he was a Samaritan and had a Devil ;" or, as 
Felix did the greatest of all the Apostles, when 
he roared out, " Paul, thou art beside thyself: 
much Learning doth make thee mad." Dis- 
senters pity us, when they see these things ; 
for, " they are not done in a corner." Would 



95 

they were for ever done away — and that the 
celestial Spirit of Christianity might be more 
universally prevalent among us. 

One circumstance more, and I will dis- 
miss this irksome, painful theme. It has now 
long been the fashion — among many other 
scandalous deviations from truth and good- 
ness — to hold up Calvin and Calvinism to 
general aversion and contempt! Insignificant as 
my opinion may be — who nevertheless deem it 
more manly to defend the dead than the living— 
I blush for those of our Church, who have been 
occupied in so illiberal and ungracious a ser- 
vice. For, who and what was this said Calvin, 
on whose memory and works such gross and 
most unjustifiable insult has been poured? I 
wot that through ignorance — not wilful, I hope. 
— this has been done. For, be it known to 
those, who have allowed themselves in this 
shameful licence, that he was in all respects one 
of the most illustrious of our protestant Fathers 
and Reformers — though he might not exactly 
accord with us in the matter of ecclesiastical 
Government, any more than does the Kirk of 
Scotland. If any of their Successors have so 
far degraded themselves, as to speak of him in 
any other light, it may, I think, be made appear, 
that it cannot add a single trait of excellence 



96 

either to their judgment or their worth. They 
may have their Parasites and Sycophants, who 
will — for sufficient reasons, no doubt — cry, 
Plaudite, but, let us hear what other men of 
other times, and less interested, have to say of 
him. 

Of all the Worthies, that have any intimate 
relation to our ecclesiastical Polity, there is 
scarce a name more universally celebrated than 
that of, Hooker; who has always been epi- 
thetically distinguished by, thej udicious Hooker. 
His judgment then may be presumed to carry 
more than common weight. Now then, in what 
strain does he speak of Calvin, as the Head of 
the Genevan church ? His words are these — 
" A founder it had, whom, for my own part, I 
think incomparably the wisest man that the 
French church did ever enjoy. His bringing 
up was in the Study of the civil Law : divine 
Knowledge he gathered, not by hearing or 
reading so much as by teaching others; but, 
though thousands were indebted to him, as 
touching knowledge of that kind, yet, he to 
none ; but only to God — the author of that 
most blessed Fountain the Book of Life, and 
of that admirable dexterity of Wit, together 
with the helps of other Learning, which were 
his guides/' — This is the testimony of a de- 



97 

cided Churchman ; and, of such a Witness, it 
is well known that, Ipse agmen — " he is him- 
self, a Company." But, we are provided with 
others, of high respectability and perfect com- 
petence. 

Thus, the great Thuanus, in his admirable 
History, though a Papist, mentions him with 
decency and candour. " Calvin/' says he, " was 
endued with great acuteness and force of Genius, 
and with a wonderful faculty of Eloquence; 
a very celebrated Divine among the Protes- 
tants/' He must be little acquainted with the 
annals of the Reformation, who understands 
not that Calvin was held in the highest venera- 
tion by all the reformed Churches ; nor less so, 
by our own — especially during the short but 
happy and prosperous reign of the sixth Edward. 
Joseph Scaliger, whose literary pride was such, 
that he scarce thought any man worthy of his 
commendation, not only admired him, but said 
that " he was the greatest Wit the world had 
seen since the Apostles. He acknowledged, 
that no man ever understood ecclesiastical his- 
tory like Calvin — who, at the age of twenty- 
two was the most learned man in Europe : and, 
that he was the happiest of all the Commen- 
tators in apprehending the sense of the Pro- 
phets." 

H 



98 

The time, however, would fail me, were 1 to 
recite at length the exalted testimonies given 
in his favour by bishops, Andrews, Morton, 
Davenant, Stillingfleet, and many others, whom 
it would be doing ourselves honour to praise. 
Dr. Joshua Hoyle, a Divinity professor in the 
reign of Charles the First, calls him " that 
great Instrument of God's glory, a Man of 
whom I had almost said, as once it was of 
Moses, there arose not a prophet like him in 
Israel — nor, since the Apostles' days, that was 
before him. His Works shall praise him for 
Wit, Eloquence, Fullness, and Soundness of 
Divinity, Variety and Multitude, advanced 
among the highest : a Man of incredible Me- 
mory and most exact Judgment, and whose 
whole life was filled up with ministerial Labours, 
Watchings, and Fastings. In short, he was 
" a burning and a shining Light," and the re- 
formed Churches were willing to rejoice in 
his light. Not a few extraordinary things are 
told of him in his Memoirs by Beza and others 
— which, they that please, may consult at their 
leisure. Bishop Hooper, that reverend Prelate 
and right godly Martyr saluted him from his 
prison with the compellation of Vir prmstan- 
tissime — earnestly begging his prayers, and sub- 
scribing himself tuce pietatis studiosissimus, 
11 most studious of your piety." Jo. Hooperus. 



99 

In truth, all the ecclesiastical Memorials of 
any reputation invariably speak of him as a 
Character, whose extensive Genius, immense 
Learning, flowing Eloquence, extraordinary 
Penetration, indefatigable Industry, and fervent 
Piety, placed him at the head of the Reformers. 
He is said to. have surpassed all the Doctors 
of that Age in his prodigious Capacity, labo- 
rious Application, and constancy of Mind ; so 
that almost all the reformed Churches embraced 
his theological System. 

How is it to be accounted for then, that the 
minute Theologians of our times should have 
so degraded the Understanding they may possess, 
as to speak disrespectfully, and even insultingly, 
of a Character so illustrious as this? Was it 
their ignoble ambition to tread upon a dead 
Lion — the shaking of whose Mane, had he 
been living, would have almost annihilated 
their puny Intellect ? If, indeed, the Superio- 
rity of their Genius, Learning, Penetration, 
Eloquence, Industry, or Piety, could be urged 
in excuse for such arrogance, we might well 
bear with it; but, as nothing of this sort is to be 
seen to command uncommon attention or de- 
ference, it must be attributed either to a de- 
plorable Ignorance, a contemptible Prejudice, 

h 3 



100 

or, an overweening Conceit. I should not 
have said so much about this Founder of the 
Protestant Reformation, as Mosheim styles him, 
but in the hope of teaching a lesson of decorous 
humility. 

To all this it may be replied, that the design of 
these his diminutive Opponents is not so much 
to lessen the just estimate of Calvin, as to 
render Calvinism odious and despicable. But, 
if so,- then let us talk a little about Calvinism: 
by which, I apprehend, must be intended that 
Synopsis, Digest, or Summary, contained in 
his " Institutes of the christian Religion.'' 

* l Zuingle," says the great Historian, I have 
this moment referred to, " was one of the first 
reformed Doctors, who reduced The sacred 
Science into a certain sort of order, in his 
book concerning the true and false Religion 
— which contained a brief Exposition of the 
principal Doctrines of Christianity. This pro- 
duction was followed by one much more com- 
prehensive in its contents, and perfect in its 
kind, composed by Calvin, and entitled, Insti- 
tutes of the christian Religion; which was a 
Model in this respect : a Work remarkable for 
the finest elegance of Style and the greatest 



101 



ease and perspicuity of Expression, together 
with the most perfect simplicity of Method and 
clearness of Argument!'' 

" This incomparable Treatise," says another 
Writer, " he dedicated to the French King, 
Francis the First, with such a strong and ele- 
gant Preface, which, if he would but have 
vouchsafed to read it — as he was a Prince of 
learning and judgment — it might have had a 
great influence upon him and have given no 
small wound that way to the Popish abomina- 
tion. However, the Book was then, and has 
been ever since, the Wonder or the Envy of 
most that have read it. If we consider the 
Subject — the whole body of Divinity ; or the 
clear distinct, and easy Method ; or the solid 
Judgment, most profound and extensive Learn- 
ing, acute and close Reasoning; clear, neat, 
and elegant Style, and the beautiful Vivacity, 
which shines in every page of it; or, whether 
we reflect on the season when it was written — 
when things were hardly brought to a consis- 
tency by the Reformers, whose eyes were but 
just opened ; or, whether we remember that the 
Author was then but about five or six and 
twenty years of age ; we shall be forced to 
own, that, as the Book was indeed an extra- 
ordinary Work in all respects, so the Author 



102 

was a Prodigy of a Genius, and uncommonly 
filled both with Gifts ana 1 Graces. Nor is it 
to be thought strange, after this, that he was 
so much courted, revered, and loved — so uni- 
versally applied to by all sorts of men, and his 
Opinion so much valued and depended on, by 
all degrees, to his dying day." 

It were endless, however, to enumerate all the 
Eulogies which have been passed, by the most 
distinguished persons, on this solid, laborious, 
and deservedly famous Work. Not that it 
enters at ail into my present plan, to defend the 
calviaistic System : and yet, I feel anxious 
that one thing should be specially noted; that, 
were 1 not otherwise and more usefully occu- 
pied, I might pledge myself to illustrate all the 
doctrinal Articles of our own Church from 
these very Institutes of Calvin ; and, particu- 
larly, the seventeenth; which includes in it 
the virtual substance of all revealed Truth. 

In the history of my long Life — extended 
as it now is beyond the allotted period of hu- 
man existence — not many things have amazed 
me more, than to have heard and read of per- 
sons of liberal Education, academic Learning, 
and dignified Respectability, who have been 
so wilfully absurd, as to contend, that this 

1 



103 

Article does not assert the doctrine of Election 
and Predestination. There is not a Deist or an 
Infidel in the kingdom, who cares nothing about 
the doctrines of Christianity, but who will con- 
fidently affirm that it does. As well might it 
be said, that the first Article does not assert the 
doctrine of the Trinity ; or the second, that of 
the Incarnation of the Son of God ; or the ele- 
venth, that of Justification by Faith only. If 
the Articles may be safely trifled with in this 
manner, it matters not who subscribes them — 
whether he be a Jew, Turk, or Hindoo. But, 
let us reduce this so much controverted Article 
to distinct analytical Propositions. 

Prop. 1. " Predestination unto life is the 
everlasting Purpose of God, whereby be/ore the 
foundations of the world were laid, he hath con- 
stantly decreed, by his Counsel, secret to us, 
to deliver from curse and damnation those whom 
he hath chosen in Christ out of Mankind — and, 
to bring them by Christ to everlasting Salvation 
as Vessels made to honour." — So that, if there 
be any obvious meaning in any language under 
heaven, the everlasting Purpose or Decree of 
God, respecting those whom he hath chosen in 
Christ, and their everlasting Salvation, are inse- 
parably and infallibly connected. 



104 

Prop. 2. " They, which be endued with so 
excellent a Benefit of God, be called, according 
to God's purpose, by his Spirit working in due 
season." — So that, Predestination or Election, is 
not a speculative Notion, but, an excellent Be- 
nefit of God ; and to those, who are the Objects 
of it, it is evidenced by some work of the Spirit 
with which they are personally acquainted — by 
which, they are called out of darkness into light, 
out of a State of nature into a State of grace. 
Because, without the efficacious influence or 
operation of the Spirit of God, ministerial calls 
would be utterly in vain. " Paul may plant, 
and Apollos may water, but it is God that giveth 
the increase : so then, neither is he that planteth 
any thing, nor he that watereth any thing — but, 
God that giveth the increase." It is the Spirit 
of God, that warketh effectually in all them " that 
believe to the saving of their souls ; according 
to the eternal purpose of God which he hath 
purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

Prop. 3. " They, through Grace, obey the 
calling." — If therefore they are not disobedient 
to the heavenly Call, which is administered to 
them, not by any secret Voice or Whisper, but 
through the Word of God, read or preached, it 
is never to be ascribed to their Free-will or Free- 



105 

agency — to any natural Power or moral Suf- 
ficiency in themselves — but, to the divine Grace. 
" So then, it is not of him that willech, nor of 
him that runneth, but, of God that sheweth 
Mercy. " 

Prop. 4. " They who are thus effectually 
called, by the working of the Spirit and Grace 
of God, be justified freely.'' — To be justified, 
according to the sense in which our Church has 
stated it, is, to be accounted righteous before 
God only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ, by Faith; and not for our own 
works or deservings : and that we are justified 
freely, by grace, is the express declaration of 
Scripture. To talk therefore of terms, condi- 
tions, and recommendations, as having any part 
in this Act of the free Grace of God, is not 
merely to talk nonsense, but, it is to oppugn the 
doctrine of our Articles, and Liturgy, and Ho- 
milies, and to contradict ' the Word of Truth/ " 

Prop. 5. " They, who are called by grace, 
and justified freely by Faith, be made Sons of 
God by adoption.'' — They are said to be " pre- 
destinated unto the adoption of Children by 
Jesus Christ, and to be the Children of God by 
Faith in Christ Jesus : for, as many as received 
him, to them gave he power, privilege, or right, 



106 

to become the sons of God — even to them that 
believe in his name: for, when the fulness of 
the time was come, God sent forth his Son, 
made of a woman, made under the Law, to re- 
deem them that were under the Law — that they 
might receive the adoption of Sons/' 

Prop. 6. " None but those, who are made 
like the Image of his only begotten Son Jesus 
Christ, are the elect of God — effectually called 
— freely justified — or, his adopted Children." — 
For, " whom he did foreknow, he also did pre- 
destinate to be conformed to the image of his 
Son/' What therefore can there be in the doc- 
trine of. Predestination and Election, rightly 
understood, that has the least tendency to licen- 
tiousness I Admitting that it may be perverted 
or abused, what Man is he, who would try the 
excellence or value of Reason, Learning or 
Wealth, by their abuse or perversion ? Besides, 

Prop. 7. " All they, who are predestinated 
— called — justified — adopted — and transformed 
into the image of God — walk religiously in good 
Works." — For, though they are saved by Grace 
through Faith — and, not of Works, lest any 
Man should boast— they are " elected in Christ 
Jesus unto good Works., which God hath before 
ordained that they should walk in them : they 



107 

are not only washed, and justified, bu-t, they are 
also sanctified, in the name of the Lord Jesus 
and by the Spirit of our God.'* 

Prop. S. "If we belong to the blessed 
number of those, who are chosen in Christ as 
Vessels made to honour, we shall without doubt 
attain,^ through God's Mercy, to everlasting Fe- 
licity. — God's eternal Purpose and Decree re- 
specting the Vessels of Mercy cannot possibly 
be frustrated ; it cannot fail of being consum- 
mated in endless Glory : neither have they any 
thing to look to but " the Mercy of God unto 
eternal Life." 

Pkop. 9. " The godly consideration of Pre- 
destination and our Election in Christ is full of 
sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable Comfort, to 
godly persons." — Whatever therefore the general 
opinion, of Ignorance, Prejudice, or self-righ- 
teous Pride may be, it is not the opinion of our 
Church, that there is any thing gloomy, deject- 
ing, or melancholy, in the doctrine we are now 
agitating. 

Prop. 10. " Godly persons' are such as feel 
in themselves the working of the Spirit of Christ 
mortifying the works of the Flesh and their 
earthly Members, and drawing up their Mind to 



108 

high and heavenly things." — For, " as many as 
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons 
of God :" so that, " if any man have not the 
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." 

Prop. 11. " For curious and carnal persons, 
lacking the Spirit of Christ, to have continually 
before their eyes the sentence of God's pre- 
destination, is a most dangerous downfall ; 
whereby the Devil doth thrust them either into 
desperation, or into wretchedness of unclean 
living, no less perilous than desperation." — 
Upon this, I make no remark : suffice it for me, 
that it is the language of our church. 

♦ Prop. 12. " The secret things belong unto 
God ; those, which he hath revealed, to us and 
to our children : we must therefore receive God's 
Promises in such wise as they are generally set 
forth to us in the holy Scriptures : and, in our 
doings, that Will of God is to be followed, 
which we have expressly declared to us in the 
Word of God." — Of these Promises and of this 
Will of God, take the following specimen from 
Isa. lv. 1—8. Matt. xi. 27—30. John vi. 37— 
40. Rev. xxii. 17. 

How far any Jesuitical Subtilty or Sophistry 
mav be able to twist, and twine, and torture, 



109 

these several Propositions from their plain, sim- 
ple, and grammatical sense, I wish not to under- 
stand : what I contend is, that they are clearly 
involved in the seventeenth Article, and, that 
the very counterpart of them is to be found in 
Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion. 
Whether they are sanctioned by the Scriptures 
of truth is not the Question we are now discuss- 
ing : let every Man search those Scriptures, and 
then judge for himself. We, of the Clergy, are 
presumed, as Characters of common probity, to 
embrace them ; because we have most seriously 
and deliberately subscribed the Article which 
contains them. But, if we are known openly 
to decry them in our public ministrations and 
writings — which is continually done ! must if 
not create a very strong and unanswerable pre^ 
judice against us? 

Sorry, as we are, that such occasions should 
ever be given to those, who are anxious to vin- 
dicate their separation from us, we still say to 
those who remain with us, " You are Members 
of a Church, in which you may assuredly find 
Salvation, if you continue in it and live accord- 
ing to its Doctrines, Devotions, and Duties; 
for, her Creed is derived from the sacred Oracles 
— she worships the only true God, according to 
his own Revelation of his Nature, Perfections. 



110 

and Will ; she avows no other Mediator than 
Jesus Christ ; no other Propitiation for sin but 
his Blood ; no other Merit but his Righteous- 
ness ; and she uses no other Sacraments than 
those which Christ ordained: in a word, she is 
in so far " the Pillar and Ground of the Truth, 
as being built upon the foundation of the 
Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself 
being the chief Corner-stone. " 

To contribute my humble mite towards the 
radical Cure of all the disorders which may have 
gradually insinuated themselves into the vital 
and substantial parts of our ecclesiastical Com- 
munion, a multitude of Remedies might be pro- 
posed ; but, the few, I would beg permission to 
submit, shall be comprised in the subsequent 
conclusive Remarks. Popular as they may be 
— like the rest of these Strictures — I am firmly 
persuaded myself, that they would, by universal 
application, prove very effective- 
it em ark i. 

We are no otherwise Protestant Ministers and 
Protestant Christians than as we zealously preach 
and cordially embrace " The everlasting Gospel" 

On the elucidation of this Remark—- which I 



Ill 

consider as of vast magnitude — I will not dis- 
guise my real feelings ; which are those of pain- 
ful apprehension — lest the firmness and decision, 
with which I may deem it my duty to express 
my own sentiments, should be pronounced con- 
ceited or dictatorial ; in an Age, in which more 
respect is usually shewn to a sceptical Can- 
dour and Liberality than to scriptural Assertions 
and unaccommodating Truth. Otherwise, as I 
have no desire to take any undue advantage of 
the weakest Intellect, neither have I the smallest 
dread of being examined by the severest critical 
Impartiality. 

It was expedient to premise thus much, from 
a secret consciousness, that, with respect to the 
Gospel itself, and, consequently, to the preach- 
ing of the Gospel, there have been so many 
differences and contentions anion* us — sad to 
say, to the gratification of those, who disbelieve 
the former, and, therefore, despise the latter. 
My business, however, is with those, who are 
the professed Advocates of both. 

" I saw another Angel," says the inspired 
Penman of the Apocalypse, " fly in the midst, 
of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to 
preach to all them that dwell on the earth/' 
This, the most approved Interpreters have ap- 



112 

plied to the Protestant Reformation. Can it 
then be unworthy of notice, that the Lutheran 
Church assumed the title of, evangelical — not 
only because it was formed in direct opposition 
to the antichristian church of Rome, but, be- 
cause it was the original design of its Founders, 
to restore to its native lustre " the Gospel of 
Christ," which had been so long covered with 
the darkness of Superstition ; or, in other words, 
says Mosheim, " to place in its proper and true 
light that important doctrine, which represents 
Salvation as attainable by the merits of Christ 
alone. Here then, the leading inquiry is, What 
is the Gospel? what is its true nature and im- 
port? I dare not suffer myself to think that 
" the Gospel of God" — which conveys to us 
a Project of infinite Wisdom as w r ell as Love, 
can be any thing vague, equivocal, and undeter- 
minate, I must, therefore, take it for granted, 
that a matter of such universal concern and 
eternal interest must be something distinct, 
specific, and definitive. If not, it must neces- 
sarily be a topic of interminable dispute and 
division ; nor could we ever be satisfied, whether 
we did really believe the (gospel, or not. I 
make no excuse then for repeating the question, 
What is the Gospel ? 

It is very well known to literary Students in 



113 

theological Science, that the term signifies in 
flebrew, Greek, and Latin, " good News- 
glad Tidings — or, a joyful Sound. iy This is 
therefore what we are always to expect from 
" the Gospel of Christ/' properly so called ; 
otherwise, be assured of it, it is not the Gospel. 
Thus, we read in the book of Psalms, " Blessed 
is the people who know the joyful Sound : they 
shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy coun- 
tenance. In thy Name shall they rejoice all 
the day, and in thy Righteousness shall they be 
exalted. For, thou art the glory of their strength, 
and in thy Favour their horn shall be exalted/ 1 
So again, in the prophecies of Isaiah, Jesus 
Christ is predictively spoken of, as saying, 
" The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, 
because the Lord hath anointed me to preach 
good Tidings unto the meek ; he hath sent me 
to bind up the broken-hearted — to proclaim 
liberty to the captives — and the opening of the 
prison to them that are bound. " And what 
was the strain, in which the celestial Messenger 
announced the nativity of the Son of God to 
the affrighted shepherds ? " Fear not," said he, 
" for, behold, I bring you glad tidings of great 
joy, which shall be to all people ; for unto you 
is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, 
which is Christ the Lord." You will bear in 
mind then^ that this is the essential constitution 

i 



114 

of the Gospel ; as much so, as breathing is of 
your animal existence. 

In perfect harmony with this idea, you will 
discover, on a close, accurate, and pious in- 
spection of holy Writ, that the Spirit of inspira- 
tion has called it, " The Gospel of Grace— The 
Gospel of Peace — and, the Gospel of our Salva- 
tion." It will amply reward us, if we dedicate 
a little time and pains to the investigation of 
the meaning of this phraseology. Why then is 
it said to be " the Gospel of Grace ?' Because, 
it reveals to us the free Favour of God ; in 
which our whole Happiness, for time and 
eternity, consists ; which we had for ever for- 
feited by our countless offences against his divine 
Majesty : and which, it was morally impossible 
we should ever recover by any works of 
Righteousness that we could perform. Is not 
this good NewsP 

But, why is it proposed to us as " a Gospel 
of Peace ?" Because, whereas we ate by nature 
in a state of Variance with our great Creator 
and Lord, and have thereby incurred the curse 
of his righteous Law, and have provoked most 
justly his Wrath and Indignation, this Gospel 
proclaims to us a method of Reconciliation ; a 
Way, in which we may obtain " Peace with 



115 

God through our Lord Jesus Christ ; a Plan of 
his own devising, by which we may be brought 
into a state of indissoluble Friendship with " the 
Father of Spirits, and live/* For which reason, 
it is said to be " the Word of reconciliation/' 
and the preaching of it, is " The Ministry of 
reconciliation/* Is not this a joyful Sound? 

To crown all, it is said to be " the Gospel of 
our Salvation ;" because, it exhibits to us that 
great, that complete, that eternal Salvation — in 
all its fulness of Blessings — which Christ hath 
purchased for lost, ruined, helpless Man, by his 
incarnation, sufferings, and obedience unto 
death. " So God loved the World, as to give 
his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
in Flim might not perish, but might have ever- 
lasting Life ; for, God sent not his Son into the 
world to condemn the world, but, that the 
world, through Him, might be saved : neither 
is there Salvation in any other; but, He is able 
to save to the uttermost all that come unto God 
by Him. Are not these, glad Tidings of great 
Joy P 

This then, and only this, according to my con- 
ceptions at least, is the Gospel which Jesus 
Christ commanded his Apostles to preach to 
every creature under heaven ; and deeply is it 

I 2 



116 



to be lamented, if any of our public Teachers 
have not well considered the awful condition of 
those, who venture to preach a different Gospel, 
be the pretence what it may. But, let us hear 
the memorable words of St. Paul to the churches 
of Galatia. " I marvel," said he, " that ye are 
so soon removed from him that called you into 
the Grace of Christ, unto another Gospel : 
which is not another ; but there be some that 
trouble you, and would pervert the Gospel of 
Christ. But, though we, or an Angel from 
heaven, preach any other Gospel unto you than 
that which we have preached unto you, let him 
be accursed. As we said before,, so say I now 
again, if any one preach any other Gospel unto 
you than that ye have received, let him be ac- 
cursed" 

What modern Chanty and Candour will 
think of language so unqualified and alarming 
may easily be conceived: but, the earth will 
sink under our feet, sooner than its divine 
Author will permit the sacredness of his Truth 
to be violated : nor shall we be surprised at the 
awfulness of this Apostle's denunciation, when 
he adds — " for, I certify you, brethren, that the 
Gospel which was preached by me, is not after 
Man: neither was I taught it, nor did I receive 
it of Man, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ/* 



117 

If we cannot collect what that Gospel was, 
which he was supernaturally taught and so 
ardently preached, from a serious and diligent 
perusal of the third chapter of the same in- 
valuable Epistle, we must be either strangely or 

wilfullv blind. 

«/ 

Of the Gospel, in this apostolical view of it, 
and as inclusive of all the blessings of Grace, 
Peace, and Salvation, nothing can be more 
transparent than that Jesus Christ, in his me- 
diatorial Person, Undertaking, and Offices, is 
the Sum and Substance. If, as you have an 
undoubted right to do, you demand my autho- 
rity for an averment so dogmatical, I refer you 
to Rom. 5. 1 Cor. 1. 2 Cor. 4. 1—6. Eph. 1. 
Col. 1. 

This is the Gospel, which the Author of the 
epistle to the Hebrews assures us was preached 
in Types, Figures, and Shadows, to the ancient 
Israelites in the Levitical (Economy ; and, that 
it entered into the prophetic Dispensation is 
evident from what we read in Is. 40. 55. 55. Jer. 
23. 5. 6. Dan. 9. 24—27. Zech. 9. 9—12. com- 
pared with 1 Pet. 1. 10—12. 2 Pet. 1. 16—21. 

It seems to have been the unanimous opinion 
of the Protestant Fathers and Martyrs, that, in 
" the glorious Gospel of the blessed God/' the 



118 

most material doctrine is that of, Justification 
by Faith. So thought our admirable Historian, 
Milner. Allow me then to lay this doctrine 
before you, with the utmost simplicity, in a few 
perspicuous Theses ; which you will try by the 
only infallible Criterion we have ; because, " if 
we speak not according to that Rule, there is no 
light in us." 

1. Whatever Christ did or suffered for man- 
kind, he suffered and did as a common Person ; 
as the Head, Representative, and Surety, of his 
redeemed People. 

2. Christ, as their Head, Representative, and 
Surety, fulfilled the Law of works for them — in 
their stead. 

3. Christ, by bearing the Curse of the Law, 
delivered them from that curse ; and, by obeying 
its Precepts, purchased for them that Life which 
the Law promised ; and, by the supereminency 
of that Obedience, additions of blessedness to 
that Life. 

4. The Righteousness of Christ, whereby he 
fulfilled the Law, is imputed to Believers for 
their justification before God : for the sake of 
that Righteousness alone, God is graciously 



119 

pleased to grant them pardon of Sin, and the 
free gift of eternal Life. 

5. This Righteousness of Christ is that alone, 
which we must oppose to the Wrath of God — 
by which we must stand before him in judgment 
— and for which only Heaven is given us, and 
all things necessary to the enjoyment of it. 

6. By the imputation of this Righteousness, 
all real Christians are perfectly freed from the 
curse of the Law — perfectly justified in the sight 
of God — and perfectly entitled to eternal Glory. 

7. We are made partakers of the Righteous- 
ness of Christ and of all the benefits connected 
with it, by Faith alone ; and that Faith consists 
in trusting in the Promise of everlasting Life 
through Jesus Christ. 1 John 5, 9 — 13. 

All these Positions, I am thoroughly con- 
vinced myself, are drawn from " the Word of 
God, which liveth and abideth for ever ;" and, 
therefore, in preaching the Gospel, we boldly 
assert, that, Justification is the acceptance of 
a Sinner with God as righteous, through the 
Righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to him, 
and received by Faith ; in consequence of 
which, he hath a full right and title to eternal 



120 

Life. How far this is the doctrine of our Pro- 
testant Church may be easily seen by an Ex- 
tract, not hitherto made, from her Homily of 
Salvation. " Truth it is/' says she, " that our 
own Works do not justify us, to speak properly 
of Justification ; that is to say, our Works do 
not merit or deserve remission of our sins, and 
make us, of unjust, just before God ; but God, 
of his own Mercy, through the only Merits of 
his Son Jesus Christ, doth justify us. Never- 
theless, because Faith doth directly send us to 
Christ for remission of Sins, and that by Faith, 
given us of God, we embrace the Promise of 
God's Mercy, and of the Remission of our sins, 
therefore, the Scripture useth to say, that 
Faith without Works doth justify us : and, for- 
asmuch as it is all one sentence in effect, to 
say, Faith without works, and Faith only, doth 
justify us, therefore the ancient Fathers of the 
Church, from time to time, have uttered our 
Justification with this speech — Only Faith 
justifieth us ; meaning no other thing than St. 
Paul meant, when he said, H Faith without 
works justifieth us :" and, because all this is 
brought to pass through the only merits and 
deservings of our Saviour Christ, and not through 
our merits, or through the merit of any virtue 
we have within us, or of any work that cometh 
from us, therefore, in that respect, we forsake, 



121 , 

altogether, Faith, Works, and all other Virtues. 
For our own imperfection is so great, through 
the corruption of original Sin, that all is imper- 
fect — Faith, Hope, Charity, Thoughts, Words, 
and Works : and this form of speaking use we, 
in the humbling ourselves to God, and to give 
all the glory to our Saviour Christ, who is best 
worthy to have it." 1 Cor. 1. 30, 31. 

From all these Preliminaries, and from the 
grand Protestant principle, of the sufficiency of 
the Scriptures to make us " wise unto Salvation, 
through Faith that is in Christ Jesus," I am 
surely warranted to infer, that, no Preacher 
whatever oflght to be accredited or listened to, 
as a Protestant Minister, who does not preach 
the true, pure, genuine Gospel of Grace — Peace 
— and Salvation; and that, so plainly, as to be 
clearly apprehended by the common people : nor 
is any person to be esteemed a Protestant Chris- 
tian, who does not cordially and thankfully 
embrace the very same Gospel in the love of it, 
that he may be saved. Should I be thought too 
warm, or even enthusiastic, in making this attes- 
tation, the Plea I set up in my defence shall be 
borrowed from St. Paul on a similar occasion — 
where he says, " It is good to be zealously af- 
fected always in a good thing :" and do you 
know a better thing than the Gospel ? Let me 



122 

therefore recommend the same Warmth and 
Enthusiasm to all others, " in striving together 
for the Faith of the Gospel." Willingly would 
I enlarge here, but, I must hasten to my next 
remark. 

REMARK II. 

They only are Protestant Ministers or Pro- 
testant Christians, who " fear God and give 
Glory to him." 

" I saw another Angel fly in the midst of 
heaven, saying with a loud voice, Fear God 
and give Glory to him." As this may be the 
last living testimony I shall bear to " the Truth 
as it is in Jesus/' I am solicitous to render it as 
comprehensively useful as I can, without in- 
curring the censure of tedious prolixity. Here 
then is an Object, which commands all the 
attention which either our intellectual or our 
moral Powers can possibly show him — God. 

To have just conceptions of the supreme 
Being lies at the root of all Religion and 
Worship : for want of which, we are every 
moment liable to plunge into the grossest Su- 
perstition or abominable Idolatry ; as we learn 
from the melancholy records of all unenlightened 



123 

heathen nations ; and from which it is the noble 
Design of our christian and missionary Societies 
to deliver them; and, to illuminate their dark 
Minds with the cheering rays of celestial Light ; 
and therefore we say, " the Lord prosper them ! 
We wish them good luck in the name of the 
Lord." 

For just conceptions of the glorious Godhead 
we must have recourse, in the first place, to that 
blessed book, The Bible — which papal Ty- 
ranny would wrest from our hands ; and, in the 
next place, we may betake ourselves to the 
Articles and Liturgy of the national Church. 
In the former, we are very properly taught, 
that, " There is one living and true God, ever- 
lasting, without body, parts, or passions ; of 
infinite Power, Wisdom, and Goodness ; the 
Maker and Preserver of all things, visible and 
invisible : and, in unity of this Godhead, there 
be three Persons, of one substance, power, and 
eternity — the Father, the Son, and the holy 
Ghost." — In the latter, we are instructed to pray 
after this manner, " O holy, blessed, and glo- 
rious Trinity, three Persons and one God, have 
mercy upon us miserable Sinners." 

This then is to be the primary Object of our 
" Fear: 13 in comparison with whom every 



124 

created Being is to be accounted as nothing: 
and, though I cannot stay to illustrate the point 
at large, you will perceive, upon cultivating an 
intimate acquaintance with the Scriptures — 
which is your bounden Duty, and ought to be 
your Delight — that the term " Fear," includes 
in it every act of Piety, Adoration, and Obedi- 
ence to God, we can ever perform. Of this 
heavenly Fear, however, not a single emotion is 
to be found in any of us by nature. Our Ig- 
norance, Conceit, and Pride, may indeed mislead 
us " to think more highly of ourselves than we 
ought to think ;" but, as sure as the Word of 
God is Truth, there is none of this Fear of God 
before our eyes, till we are renewed by divine 
Grace in the spirit of our mind : then, and not 
till then, that exceeding great and precious 
Promise of God is fulfilled in us, where he says, 
" I will put my Fear in their Hearts." For, 
" the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of that 
Wisdom, which, with every other good and per- 
fect Gift, is from above, and cometh down from 
the Father of lights." 

Among the various governing principles of 
the christian life, though Love is unquestion- 
ably the chief, this is one of no inconsiderable 
influence in restraining us from every thing that 
is evil and forbidden. It was therefore enforced 



195 

by our Saviour himself on his chosen disciples 
in these striking words — " I say unto you, my 
Friends, fear not them which kill the Body, and 
after that have no more that they can do : but, 
I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear — fear 
Him, who is able to destroy both Soul and 
Body in hell : yea, I say unto you, fear Him." 

To encourage us in this pious Disposition, 
we shall meet with many promised blessings 
that are attached to it. " Come, ye Children," 
says the Psalmist, "hearken unto me; I will 
teach you the Fear of the Lord. What man is 
he, that desireth life — that loveth many days, 
that he may see good ? Keep thy tongue from 
evil, and thy lips that they speak no guile : 
depart from evil and do good : seek peace, and 
pursue it. For, the eyes of the Lord are over 
the righteous, and his ears are open to their 
prayers. The secret of the Lord is with them 
that fear him, and he will shew them his co- 
venant. Blessed therefore is the Man that 
feareth always.^ 

No person, whose heart and life are regulated 
by this religious and gracious Principle, will be 
backward to " give glory to God. ,J> But, when 
and how is it, that we are said to " give Glory 
to God?" Let it not be imagined, that Creatures 
3 



126 

of such extreme frailty and insignificance can 
contribute any thing to the essentia] Glory of 
the incomprehensible great God. As well might 
a glimmering Taper add something to the me- 
ridian brilliancy and blaze of the Sun. There 
is, however, a prescribed mode, in which we 
may be enabled, through grace, to give him the 
glory which is due to his Name and Perfections: 
and what is that ? 

It is, when, to the utmost of the Faculties 
with whjch we are endowed, we take pleasure 
in celebrating and adoring the various Attri- 
butes of the Godhead, which constitute his in- 
conceivable Excellence and Beauty : such, for 
instance, as his Holiness — his Justice — his Wis- 
dom — his Goodness — his Mercy — and his Grace. 
There are, indeed, who are ready enough to 
speak highly of his Goodness, his Mercy, and 
his Grace, who scarce ever think at all of his 
Holiness, his Justice, and his Wisdom: and 
what is this, but to rob him of part of his glory ? 
Characters of this description would do well to 
meditate a little, in private, on the spirit and 
manner, in which " the King of kings and Lord 
of lords is worshipped by the heavenly Host/' 
See Is. 6. Revel. 4. 

Theri do we " give Glory to God," when we 



127 

acknowledge him to be the rightful object of 
our superlative Affections ; unfeignedly con- 
fessing, that it is very meet, right, and our 
bounden duty, " to love the Lord our God with 
all our Heart — with all oar Mind — with all our 
Soul — and with all our Strength ;" covered, at 
the same time, with the deepest penitential 
shame and grief, that there has not been a single 
day of our lives, in which we have not violated 
this " first and great Commandment of all/' 

Then do we " give Glory to God," when we 
most humbly, cordially, and thankfully, accept 
the only possible method of Pardon, Peace, and 
Redemption, which he has set before us in 
Christ Jesus, " the Author and the Finisher of 
our Faith and Salvation : yy for, this is " the only 
Name given under heaven amongst men whereby 
we must be saved,'* or for ever perish. To 
reject Him, as the one Mediator between God 
and Man — as the only vicarious Sacrifice for sin 
— and, as " the Lord our righteousness" — is, to 
insult, in the highest degree, the Father which 
sent him ; is, to refuse our own mercies; is, to 
bring upon ourselves inevitable destruction. 

Then do we " give glory to God," when we 
conduct ourselves as Creatures, who are sensible 
of our entire and absolute Dependence on Him 
for every good thing we possess — enjoy — or 



128 

expect. Inspired, as we certainly ought to be, 
with such a becoming Temper, we shall not only 
believe that there is a God — which the very 
Devils believe— but, we shall glorify him as 
God ; we shall actually treat him as the God of 
Nature — as the God of Providence — and, as the 
God of all Grace, Not that this will be done 
without too many humiliating failures — for, " in 
many things we all offend" — but, it will be our 
constant aim, our heart's desire, and our cease- 
less prayer. 

There is yet another very material instance, 
in which we are required to " give Glory to 
God ?' but, that shall be reserved for our last 
Remark. 

REMARK III. 

We are neither Protestant Ministers nor Pro* 
testant Christiaiis, but as we live and breathe the 
spirit of Gratitude and Praise, for the distin- 
guished Mercies and Privileges, civil and reli- 
gious, with which, as a Nation, we have been so 
long favoured. 

We are now arrived at the ultimate End and 
primary Design of these fugitive pages; which 
was, to particularize the various Sources of na- 



129 

tional and individual Thanksgiving, which, 
when duly considered, must surely enkindle in 
every reflecting Mind, a most ardent flame of 
Gratitude and Praise. Should they produce so 
blessed an effect, the time and trouble, devoted 
to this patriotic service, will have more than an 
ample reward ; nor do I seek any other. If I 
have not written to the satisfaction of the nice 
and fastidious Critic, I incur no moral blame. 
If I have brought forth nothing new, original, 
or transcendent, it has not been for want of 
Inclination, but, of Talent. If what I have ad- 
vanced is not dishonourable to the character of 
a Citizen — a Protestant — and a Minister of our 
most holy Faith, my ambition is gratified ; and, 
I sum up all, with my best efforts to excite and 
provoke my Countrymen, to that fervour of 
Thankfulness, which the astonishing benefi- 
cence of Heaven towards this Land most righ- 
teously demands. 

In this short Recapitulation then, I call upon 
them to recollect the dreadful Slavery, both of 
Mind and Body, from which we have been de- 
livered, and preserved for such a succession of 
years, by the Protestant Reformation from papal 
Tyranny and Apostacy. Antecedent to that 
wonderful Occurrence, the subjects of this 
Realm were kept by the usurped and oppressive 
domination of the Church of Rome in a kind 



130 

of Slavery, I had almost said, worse than that 
Commerce in human Flesh, which has been 
recently protested with unutterable detestation } 
when they were chained and fettered in pro- 
found Ignorance, horrid Superstitions, and mon- 
strous Idolatry ; when the reading of the holy 
Scriptures, the Words of light, life, and salvation 
— were interdicted, upon peril of suffering the 
most barbarous punishment and cruel tortures. 

In those evil days, the very nature of true 
Religion, and all spiritual, acceptable Worship, 
were veiled and obscured by the most fantas- 
tical Rites, Ceremonies, and contemptible 
Mummery ; of which, a Pagan Daemon might 
have been ashamed. In this respect, all was 
universal and impenetrable darkness, and the 
glorious Gospel, with its most invaluable Trea- 
sures, was hidden from their eyes, by the very 
Persons, who profanely dared to call themselves 
the Priests of the most high God — sent forth 
by Him to shew us the way of Salvation ! 
Could the four hundred and fifty prophets of 
Baal, that were fed at Jezebel's table, do any 
thing worse ? 

Blessed be the God of Providence, these evil 
days are now past, never, we hope — whatever we 
fear — to return. We have experienced a mighty 
deliverance from all those enormities and abomu 



131 

nations. We have the Scriptures in our hands 
— O that we may have them in our hearts! We 
may consult them whenever we choose. Lament- 
able indeed it is, to know how little they are 
searched — how little understood. We have the 
Gospel preached to us without any interruption 
or controul : why do we not flock to hear it ? 
Surely, with all our profession of Christianity, 
we cannot sincerely believe that it is " the 
Gospel of our Salvation \ 9y If we did, with 
what pleasure should we hang on the lips of 
those, who, without any affectation of classical 
Elegance, profound Research, critical Disquisi- 
tion, artificial Oratory, or moral Science, tell us, 
with apostolic Simplicity, of the Gospel of 
peace — and the unsearchable riches of Christ, 
and of all the blessings of that everlasting Cove- 
nant, which was ratified and confirmed by the 
Oath of God and the blood of his dear Son. 

Well let who will regard this Gospel with 
frigid indifference— let who will make light of 
its heavenly treasures. Let who will smile on 
" The Mother of abominations." and plead the 
cause of that " Mystery of iniquity," blessed 
be God, our lot is cast, not under the mosaic, 
but under the evangelical Dispensation ; not 
under the ministration of death and condemna- 

k 9 



132 

tion, but, under that of Light and Liberty ; not 
under the typical or prophetic (Economy, but, 
under that, in which the " Shadows of good 
things to come" are substantiated, and the Pro- 
phecies, which relate to the Messiah, are all 
fulfilled. " Go then, ye Lights of the world 
and Guides of the church ; go, neither fearing 
the frown nor courting the favour of any man, 
and proclaim the glad tidings of Salvation to the 
chief of sinners ;" testify to them " Repentance 
towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus 
Christ ;" assure them, that " whosoever is will- 
ing may come and take of the waters of life 
freely :" prepare yourselves for ridicule, con- 
tempt, obloquy, and persecution; for, thus it 
must be ; yet " shun not to declare all the 
counsel of God." Forget not, however, that be 
your Learning, Gifts, and Endowments, ever so 
great, all your sufficiency and success are entirely 
of God. You may preach, and you must preach, 
" the Word of reconciliation," with life, energy, 
and boldness ; but, no abiding impression can be 
made, no saving effect can be wrought in the 
hearts of those who hear ye, but by the secret 
and powerful agency of the holy Spirit. Let 
nothing be wanting on your part, " in warning 
the unruly, in comforting the feeble-minded, in 
supporting the weak, or in edifying the mystical 



133 

Body of Christ" — and " then have ye faithfully 
discharged the high and honourable office com- 
mitted to your trust. ■' 

But, I call upon my Countrymen, again to 
recollect on this occasion another grand Event 
in the annals of our history — the glorious Revo- 
lution of the seventeenth Century. Neither 
few nor small are the national blessings we de- 
rive from that interference of Heaven in our 
behalf: nor is it the least symptom of our ex- 
ceeding Depravity, that the very Blessings, 
which, at the moment incite our surprise, so 
soon take their leave of our Memory. Alas ! 
how often are we unmindful of Him " in whom 
we live, and move, and have our being V y At 
the period, in which this great Event occurred, 
it is well known, that almost the whole reign of 
the second James consisted of attempts always 
imprudent — often illegal — -and, sometimes, both 
— against whatever was most loved and revered 
by the Nation : in the civil and in the ecclesi- 
astical Department, little was to be seen but the 
most odious operations and effects of Tyranny, 
of Bigotry, and of every species of oppressive 
Insolence, that could at length provoke the ge- 
nerous indignation of a great and intelligent, 
yet patient and forbearing people. Popery is 
always the same: and may we always bear in 



134 

mind, that, to the Prelates, the Universities, and 
the Clergy of the Realm, at that alarming 
Crisis, we are under the most lasting obliga- 
tions, for their zealous opposition to the illegal 
and perilous transactions of that reign, and for 
the complete establishment of our present Con- 
stitution in Church and State: for which, we 
can never be too thankful. 

But, rising infinitely above all these, and 
throwing them at an unspeakable distance, are 
the Blessings of eternal Redemption : of these, 
however, I must not speak particularly, nor 
sufler myself to expatiate, lest they transport 
me beyond all reasonable limits. Happily, 
they are all registered in the sacred Volume of 
inspiration, which you may inspect whenever 
you please : but, upon the least glance only at 
blessings of such magnitude, and such interest, 
how deplorable must he the state and baseness 
of that Man, whose Heart is not ready to ex- 
claim, " Blessed be the Lord God, the God of 
Israei 5 who only doeth wondrous things: and 
blessed be the name of his glorious Majesty for 
ever : and may the whole earth be filled with 
his Glory." 

These then, in a very brief Catalogue, are the 
manifold Sources of Gratitude to which I would 



135 

earnestly invite your attention : and, that I may 
inflame you with a Spirit of overflowing Praise 
at the recital of them, have patience with me 
while I append an Observation or two, which I 
will take care shall be neither worthless nor 
trifling. 

Gratitude — though so amiable a Virtue — is 
not very much studied ; yet, always approved ; 
but, to the disgrace of our nature, seldom felt ; 
especially, towards GOD — from whom our every 
blessing flows. I observe then, without any 
dread of contradiction, that our Obligations are 
always in proportion to the Benefits we receive, 
and, that our Acknowledgments ought as nearly 
as possible to keep pace with both. This, un- 
less I am greatly mistaken, is a doctrine in per- 
fect consonance with the Reason and Fitness 
of things : and, who, that is not insane or 
worse, will ever object to the Reason and Fit- 
ness of things — however regardless he may be 
in his practical habits of either ? We own and 
we approve what is rational, and just, and good ; 
but, ah ! unhappy Beings, how often do we stop 
there ! 

That none of us, however, may fall short of 
the grateful Spirit it is my aim to inspire, let it 
be inquired, how many circumstances ought to 



be taken into consideration in making a proper 
Estimate of the good things with which the 
God of nature, providence, and grace, may have 
indulged us. Formal, as it may be deemed, I 
shall proceed very methodically in a matter of so 
great concern — that I may not be accused of 
being unintelligible. 

The first circumstance to be considered in this 
case, is, the Nature — the Value — and the Dura- 
tion — of the Benefits we reeeive. A Benefit is 
commonly understood to be a benevolent, com- 
passionate, or generous Action, administered to 
the comfort, relief, and felicity, of those on whom 
it is conferred. In some instances, they are 
necessary ; in others, profitable ; and, in both, 
delightful: and, as they differ in their kind, in 
their degree, and in their perpetuity, it is cus- 
tomary to class them into temporal — spiritual 
— and eternal. Be it recollected, however, that 
we are reviewing them, at present, with more 
immediate reference to their first Cause or ori- 
ginal Benefactor — be the Instruments or Means, 
by which they are conveyed to us, what they 
may. We indeed are too impiously wont to 
look only at second Causes ; but, it will not be 
denied, I think, that the Fountain, from which 
our every good must flow, is GOD — " who 
giveth to all, life, and breath, and all things" 



137 

Begin we then with temporal Benefits. Un- 
der which division we usually reckon Health, 
Strength, personal Beauty, elegant Accomplish- 
ments, Friends, Pleasure, Riches, and Honours. 
That all these have been, and may be, perverted 
by Millions to the vilest purposes, must be sor- 
rowfully conceded: nevertheless, they are in 
and of themselves so many Benefits, for which 
we are more or less indebted to the bounty of 
Heaven : and, though they are but transient 
and sublunary, yet do they justly exact from us, 
as moral Agents, acknowledgments suitable to 
their nature and worth. 

Under the next division — which is inexpres- 
sibly more important — we include all spiritual 
Benefits ; which are of as much greater valua- 
tion : as the immortal Soul is than the mortal 
and perishing Body : and upon this is grounded 
that memorable Appeal of our divine Teacher, 
when he said, What shall it profit a Man, 
though he should gain the whole World, and 
lose his own Soul ? or, what shall a Man give 
in exchange for his Soul? Very plainly inti- 
mating, that, were we to place the whole Inven- 
tory of this worlds goods in one Scale, and only 
a single Soul in the other, the latter would more 
than outweigh them all. According to this 
principle then, we are bound to appreciate tern- 



138 

poral, whenever they come in competition with 
spiritual Benefits. We do not absurdly and 
fanatically pour contempt on the former ; but, 
we do earnestly contend, that they are as 
nothing when compared with the latter. 

What then are these spiritual Benefits ? To 
arrange them in a regular series, they are the 
Bible — the public Ministry of the Word and 
other sacred Ordinances ; and through them, 
the Renewal of our Minds and Hearts — the 
Pardon of our sins — the Acceptance of our 
persons into the divine Favour — the Sanctifica- 
tion of the Spirit — Repentance unto Salvation 
— the Faith, which is of the operation of God — 
Peace with God — and Hope full of immorta- 
lity, and the Joy of the Holy Ghost. To men- 
tion no more, I may safely put it to the sober 
Reason and Conscience of any Man, who 
believes in a future State and a Judgment to 
come, whether all the delights, treasures, and 
dignities, to be enjoyed in this fleeting and un- 
certain existence, are worthy to be so much as 
named with Blessings like these. Wonderful 
and excellent, however, as they all are, they are 
proposed to our election in the preached Gospel : 
nothing is required of us, but to ask, and seek, 
and knock for them, by humble, fervent, and 
persevering Prayer. I quote the language of 



139 

our blessed Saviour, himself, when I say, " Ask, 
and you shall have: seek, and you shall find: 
knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For, if 
ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto 
your Children, how much more shall your 
Father which is in heaven give good things 
unto them that ask him :" and the Blessings, I 
have just particularized, constitute the chief 
Good of Man. 

Seeing then, that they are even recommended 
to our choice and preference, by their beneficent 
and exhaustless Source, how totally destitute 
must we be of every thing that is amiable — of 
all moral and grateful Sensibility of heart, if we 
do not"call upon our souls and all that is within 
us, every Faculty and every Passion, to bless 
and praise his only Name. Dissatisfied indeed 
with our utmost efforts to celebrate the divine 
Goodness as it behoves us to do, it would be 
nothing more than a pious and devout Enthu- 
siasm, were we to invoke every living Creature 
throughout the Universe to aid us in this holy 
rapturous exercise. Psalms 103. 135. 145. 150. 

The only remaining Class of Benefits to be 
noticed, is, those which shall never have an 
end ; those eternal Blessings, of which all the 
spiritual Blessings at which I could only hint, 



140 

are the earnest and foretaste ; or, a sure and 
certain Pledge of that interminable Felicity, 
" which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, and 
which it hath not entered into the heart of 
man to conceive ; but, which God hath prepared 
for them that love him ; that Inheritance, unde- 
fined and incorruptible, which he hath reserved 
in Heaven for all the Vessels of Mercy, which 
are not only made meet, by his Grace and Spirit, 
to be partakers of it, but, who are kept hy the 
Tower of God through Faith unto Salvation :" 
so that, it is absolutely impossible that one of 
them should ever fall short of it; for, " whom 
he did predestinate, them he also called ; and 
whom he called, them he also justified ; and 
whom he justified, them he also' glorified." 
All these, by the sovereign and irreversible 
decree of the most Highest, are indissolubly 
connected. If, therefore, we have any good 
hope, that we are the Objects of Love so special, 
so amazing, as this, ought we not to pant and to 
pray for the burning affection of a Seraph ? 
ought we not to be lost in wonder, gratitude and 
praise ? 

Another Circumstance, to be well digested 
in our Estimate of the Benefits we are conti- 
nually receiving from the hand of God, is, the 
exceeding Demerit of the Recipients. If they 



141 

have done nothing to conciliate his kind regard, 
but every thing that render them offensive in 
his sight, how inexpressibly must this increase 
their obligations — magnify his Goodness— and 
inflame their Gratitude ! unless indeed they are 
past feeling. 

In applying this to our own character and 
condition, I ask not what is our Merit ; that is 
entirety out of the question ; but, what is our 
Demerit! Nor shall I scruple to affirm — what I 
could readily prove — that, it is unspeakable. 
Nothing, perhaps, ever came nearer to an ade- 
quate idea of it, than the humiliating and re- 
pentant Confession, which is made by those of 
the national Church, who attend the holy 
Communion, when they are instructed to say, 

" Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all men ; 
we acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins 
and wickedness, which we, from time to time, 
have most grievously committed, by thought, 
word, and deed, against thy divine Majesty ; 
provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation 
against us. We do earnestly repent, and are 
heartily sorry for these our misdoings ; the re- 
membrance of them is grievous unto us, the 
burden of them is intolerable. Have mercy 



142 

upon us — have mercy upon us, most merciful 
Father ; for thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's 
sake forgive us all that is past, and grant that 
we may ever hereafter serve and please Thee in 
newness of life, to the honour and glory of thy 
Name, through Jesus Christ our Lord." 

Be it deeply impressed on our Minds, here, 
that we may be always clothed with this peni- 
tential Humility, that, while the evidences of 
human Depravity almost defy calculation — and, 
while, of all moral offences the crime of Ingra- 
titude is of the blackest shade — there is n6t any 
one thing, perhaps, in which even the greatest 
Saints are more defective than in a glowing and 
ceaseless Spirit of praise and thanksgiving: 
which is the more to be lamented, when, in our 
Estimate of our Blessings, we consider another 
Circumstance — the incomprehensible grandeur 
and Glory of our great Benefactor ; and, that 
this is the only tribute we can offer him for his 
numberless and incessant Mercies. u O that 
Men would therefore praise the Lord for his 
Goodness, and declare the wonders that he 
doeth for the children of men \" O that they 
might never lose sight of his marvellous Kind- 
ness, whether manifested in all the works of 
Creation — in all the bounties of Providence — 
or, in all the unsearchable riches of his Grace ! 



143 

Inspired, as we surely ought to be, with a 
Spirit so becoming, so sublime, so celestial, with 
what pleasure should we then celebrate his 
abounding Mercies, in our private Supplications; 
in our domestic Devotions ; and, in our public 
Worship. How much should we then anti- 
cipate of the Blessedness of that State, where 
our Happiness will be without any alloy, any 
interruption, any period : for, the Spirit of Hea- 
ven itself is a Spirit of perfect Adoration — per- 
fect Gratitude — and perfect Love. There it is, 
that all the beatified Inhabitants will be de- 
lightfully employed in ascribing " blessing and 
honour, wisdom and power, salvation and glory, 
to Him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the 
Lamb for ever and ever." 

" Therefore, with Angels and Archangels, 
with Cherubim and Seraphim, with Principa- 
lities and powers, and with all the blessed Com- 
pany which bow before that Throne, we laud 
and magnify thy glorious Name ; evermore prais- 
ing thee, and saying, Holy, holy, holy, is the 
Lord of hosts : heaven and earth are full of the 
majesty of thy Glory : Glory be to Thee, O 
Lord most high." Amen. 

THE 1ND, 



BARNARD AND FARLEY. 

SfciRner street. Ltndon, 



By the same Author j 

J. LESSONS, MORAL, CHRISTIAN, and 
PATRIOTIC, delivered in a Popular Dis- 
course, at Mitcham, Surry, on the death of 
her Royal Highness the Princess Charlotte 
Augusta. Price Is. 6d. 

2. STRICTURES of ETERNAL IMPORT 

and CONCERN. Price 3s. Boards. 

3. TEMPLE of TRUTH. In Svo. Price 9*. 
Boards. 

4. ADDITIONAL STUDIES to Ditto. Price 
9s. Boards. 

5. PERFECTIVE STUDIES to Ditto. Price 
8*. Boards. 



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